explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2995: University Commas

2024-10-16T20:05:36Z

Kaa-ching: fix the Oxford disambiguation page link

{{comic
| number = 2995
| date = October 7, 2024
| title = University Commas
| image = university_commas_2x.png
| imagesize = 580x273px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The distinctive 'UCLA comma' and 'Michigan comma' are a long string of commas at the start and end of the sentence respectively.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a STANFORD SEMICOLON - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The use of commas in the English language is {{w|Comma#Uses in English|famously disputed}}, most relevantly among publishers and academics. This comic imagines that all possible (and some improbable) comma positions in an example sentence are associated with different universities. This applies to commas which should ''always'' be present in a list, optional commas elsewhere in the sentence (which have nothing to do with a list, such as after the word "please") and blatantly erroneous commas (which should ''never'' be present in a sentence, e.g. immediately prior to the {{w|full stop}}/period).

The Oxford comma (a.k.a. {{w|serial comma}} or, despite how this comic represents it, the ''actual'' Harvard comma) is a comma between the penultimate item in a list and its conjunction (typically ''and'' or ''or''), to echo all the commas (at least one) that act as {{w|Comma#List separator and the serial (Oxford) comma|placeholders for the conjunction}} in-between all prior members of the list. For instance, you might write "red, white, and blue" (with the Oxford comma) or "red, white and blue" (without it). Some style guides, such as ''{{w|The Oxford Style Manual}}'' published by {{w|Oxford University Press}}, (unsurprisingly) recommend using it, while other similarly authoritative guides recommend against it. Though even those with either recommendation may suggest its (non-)use in situations where this avoids an ambiguity arising from the normally recommended choice.

One {{w|Serial comma#Ambiguity|common example}} showing the need for an Oxford comma is "To my parents, Ayn Rand''',''' and God". Without the comma (as in: "To my parents, Ayn Rand and God"), it may read that the author's parents are Ayn Rand and God. If such confusion is to be avoided, reordering the list is a common way to avoid ambiguity, for example, "To Ayn Rand, God and my parents" is one such reordering. However, the use of an Oxford comma in this version might imply the deification of Ayn Rand. Conversely, if the sentence was instead to be "To my mother, Ayn Rand, and God", with such a comma, there arises the possibility of an assertion that one's mother is Ayn Rand, whereas "To my mother, Ayn Rand and God" does not let one fall into that trap.

{{w|Macaroni and cheese}} (often shortened to "Mac and cheese" in the US and Canada) should be considered a single item in a list like this. When just two items are joined together, e.g. to name a compound food such as "peanut butter and jelly", "fish and chips" or "steak and eggs", a comma isn't placed before "and". It is in the use of such compounded items, as a singular list item, where some confusion can arise. Alternate forms ("fish'n'chips", "PB&J") can put emphasis upon the low-level linking of the components, the outer list can be rewritten (e.g. with semicolon separation) or the reader can be left to logically assume where such a commonly encountered pairing is not part of the wider list. A difference in conjunction can also help to clarify, as in "A good choice of breakfast is ham and eggs, sausage and eggs or sausage and beans, but not ham and beans", which is ''unlikely'' to be accidentally misunderstood (including as options such as "sausage + (eggs or additional sausage) + beans" or "sausage + ('non-ham' beans) + further beans").

In the most common interpretation the example sentence reads (with proper punctuation and bracketed Oxford comma): "Please buy apples, mac and cheese, milk[,] and bread."

However, most of the commas are possible punctuation marks in a specific pragmatic reading of the sentence:

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|-
! Comma name !! Notation !! Explanation
|-
| Harvard comma || Please, buy apples, mac and cheese, milk[,] and bread. || Emphatic plea, marked by a sub-clause separator. (Note that "Harvard comma" is already a common synonym for the Oxford comma, in its context.)
{{w|Harvard University}} is one of eight {{w|Ivy League}} universities in the United States.
|-
| Yale comma || Please buy, apples, mac and cheese, milk[,] and bread. || A merchant's plea to their customer, marked by a sub-clause separator. This makes the sentence a sentence fragment but this is not uncommon in speech. One use of a comma is to indicate a grammatical aside in speech and (optionally) a return from that pause — as it would here — though more formal writing would typically used a more specific punctuation mark, such as a colon. The implication may be that the list of items are those for sale or that there is a promotion around those items specifically.
{{w|Yale University}} is one of eight Ivy League universities in the United States.
|-
| Stanford comma || Please buy apples, mac and cheese, milk[,] and bread. || Mandatory separator in a list.
{{w|Stanford University}} is one of the prominent universities in the United States. It is located in Silicon Valley, a short distance from the headquarters of {{w|Apple Inc.}} The Stanford comma between "apples" and "mac" is probably necessary there to distinguish discussions of the food products from discussion of the computer products.
|-
| Columbia comma || Please buy apples, mac, and cheese, milk[,] and bread. || A plea to buy apples, cheese, milk and bread, directed at a person called Mac, whose name is stylized as "mac".

Alternatively, a plea to buy apples, a raincoat, cheese, milk[,] and bread. The first 'and' would then be superfluous, but this could reflect the speaker adding the last two items in the moment to an initial request for the first three.

{{w|Columbia University}} is one of eight Ivy League universities in the United States.
|-
| Cambridge comma || (Please buy apples, mac, and, cheese being unavailable, milk[,] and bread.) || Valid with a qualifying sub-clause; invalid in the example sentence. Also requires "mac" to be an item of its own, not a part of "mac and cheese".
The {{w|University of Cambridge}} is one of the two eponymous {{w|Oxbridge}} universities in the United Kingdom. Not to be confused with {{w|Cambridge, Massachusetts#Higher education|other establishments}} in (or originally in) Cambridge, Massachusetts.
|-
| Cornell comma || Please buy apples, mac and cheese, milk[,] and bread. || Mandatory separator in a list.
{{w|Cornell University}} is one of eight Ivy League universities in the United States. It has {{w|Cornell Dairy|its own dairy farm}}, which is why the Cornell comma is placed between dairy products, "cheese" and "milk".
|-
| Oxford comma || Please buy apples, mac and cheese, milk, and bread. || The {{w|Oxford comma}}, as discussed above, is a comma often used in lists (with more than two elements) to further separate the last two elements and thus attempt to avoid ambiguity. In this case, it is unlikely that there would be confusion as to how to interpret the given list, with or without this comma.
The {{w|University of Oxford}} is the other eponymous Oxbridge university in the United Kingdom. Not to be confused with {{w|Oxford Brookes University}}, or universities in {{w|Oxford_(disambiguation)#Places|any other Oxford}}.
|-
| Princeton comma || (Please buy apples, mac and cheese, milk[,] and, bread being out of stock, oats.) || Valid with a qualifying sub-clause; invalid in the example sentence.
{{w|Princeton University}} is one of eight Ivy League universities in the United States.
|-
| MIT comma || (Please, buy, apples, mac, and, cheese, milk, and, bread,.) || Possible reference to [https://stackoverflow.com/questions/11597901/why-are-trailing-commas-allowed-in-a-list trailing commas sometimes used in programming], which would be associated with a university highly specialized in technology. If each of these words were identifiers, then including all commas would be a valid way to express a list in some languages (though using a period to indicate the end of a list is uncommon). Specifically, MIT is home to the Rust programming language, which uses trailing commas for the last item of a list as a matter of programming style.
The {{w|Massachusetts Institute of Technology}} is one of the prominent universities in the United States.{{citation needed}}
|-
| UCLA/Michigan comma(s) || (,,,…,,,Please, buy, apples, mac, and, cheese, milk, and, bread,.,,,…,,,) || '''Title text proposal''', each establishment being perhaps responsible for both or either sets of commas. Can perhaps relate to rather specific quotation or quote-separation contexts not in common use.
The {{w|University of California, Los Angeles}} and the {{w|University of Michigan}} are two more well known universities in the United States.{{citation needed}}
|}

Depending upon who you talk to, the two establishments referenced by the title text may not be considered quite as prominent or outstanding as the Ivy League universities, or others mentioned here, hence their relegation to title text punchline. But (actual Ivy Leaguers) {{w|Brown University}}, {{w|Dartmouth College}} and the {{w|University of Pennsylvania}} were not referenced at all, for one reason or another; for example, the very idea of a "Brown comma" might more readily resonate with the concept of the {{w|Brown note}}.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[A sentence is written in greyed-out text, with the commas in black and each labeled with an arrow.]
:Please''',''' buy''',''' apples''',''' mac''',''' and''',''' cheese''',''' milk''',''' and''',''' bread''','''.

:[The labels are as follows, in order from left to right:]
:Harvard comma
:Yale comma
:Stanford comma
:Columbia comma
:Cambridge comma
:Cornell comma
:Oxford comma
:Princeton comma
:MIT comma

:[Caption below the panel:]
:The Oxford one is the most famous, but many major universities have their own comma.

==Trivia==
[[Randall]] appears to be a fairly regular user of the Serial/Oxford Comma himself, with the most recent example being in the title text of [[2985: Craters]]. This is clearly out of habit or preference, as it is not required for clarification purposes. Yet it seems he also appreciates the conflicting viewpoints inherent to such a style opinion. He later completely avoided the use of list-commas in a (three-part) list within the comic text of the successive [[2986: Every Scientific Field]], possibly for rhetorical reasons.

This very wiki currently reminds anyone editing a page that their contributions "may be edited, altered, or removed", which is also not a syntactical necessity beyond adherence to the Oxford styling. Later, in the same paragraph of text, it also uses structure of "…, or … or …", but for different grammatical reasons that are unrelated to serial/list commas.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Food]]

1627: Woosh

2016-01-09T07:58:16Z

Kaa-ching: /* Explanation */ add wikipedia link to onomatopoeia

{{comic
| number = 1627
| date = January 8, 2016
| title = Woosh
| image = woosh.png
| titletext = It also occasionally replies with 'Comment of the year', 'Are you for real', and 'I'm taking a screenshot so I can remember this moment forever'.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Very hasty draft. More needed on the alternative title text suggestions.}}
Replying to a comment with "woosh" generally indicates that there was a joke, and the commenter failed to recognize it — "woosh" is an {{W|onomatopoeia}} for the joke metaphorically "flying over their head". A bot replying to comments with "woosh" at random would be very confusing, as people would search for the nonexistent joke they missed. This is similar to [[559: No Pun Intended]].

"Comment of the year," just like the original bot reply, could be taken both ways but both would likely cause confusion. Either the reader takes the "CotY" at face value, implying that the original comment is extremely significant, or as a sarcastic quip, which would give it basically the same meaning as "woosh".

"Are you for real" implies that the commenter (the bot) doesn't believe that the original commenter is serious. (It could also imply that the person to whom the bot is replying to is a famous celebrity, and the commenter wants to know if the person who posted the original comment is a real celebrity and not fake, but this seems unlikely given the context.)

"I'm taking a screenshot so I can remember this moment forever" adds an implied air of extreme importance, hilarity or significance to a comment (again, possibly sarcastically). People who read it might assume that there is a hidden joke or meaning somewhere inside the original comment.

Although it is not specified as one of [[Randall|Randall's]] hobbies it is clearly related to the [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]] series.

==Transcript==
:[Online comment thread with text placed next to user pictures in three different levels. The first comment on the first level, the second on the second level and the last four on the same third level. Except for the second comment which is made by a person whose picture is a white silhouette of a human head and shoulders on black background, all the other comments are made by the same person with a picture of a guy with short black hair on white background. Below the pictures and below the text there are some unreadable information (indicated by wiggly lines) for the users name and time stamp etc. of the comments.]

:Hairy guy: This video looks fake to me.
::White silhouette : Woosh
:::Hairy guy: Huh? Everyone's acting like it's real!
:::Hairy guy: If it's a joke lots of people aren't getting it.
:::Hairy guy: What am I missing?!!
:::Hairy guy: Answer me

:[Caption below the frame:]
:Nothing creates more confusion than my bot that replies to random Internet comments with "Woosh".

{{comic discussion}}

1597: Git

2015-10-30T08:39:01Z

Kaa-ching: /* Explanation */ fixed git explanation a little bit

{{comic
| number = 1597
| date = October 30, 2015
| title = Git
| image = git.png
| titletext = If that doesn't fix it, git.txt contains the phone number of a friend of mine who understands git. Just wait through a few minutes of 'It's really pretty simple, just think of branches as...' and eventually you'll learn the commands that will fix everything.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Can someone who understands Git please explain how it works?}}
In programming, Git is a very popular way to share source code of programs between computers and users and thus work on projects collaboratively.

However, problems often arise when, for example, one attempts to upload code to a file someone else has already edited.
Git has quite a few tricks to handle "merging" itself.

One way of simplifying collaboration is to work in a "branch", the same files that everyone has, but your changes do not become visible to other users yet. Only when you merge (there we go again) your branch with the master branch, other users will see your "commits".

But, due to the complex nature of Git (and its notoriously counter-intuitively named commands), a large portion of users is unable to use it beyond basic commands. They consider it usually much more efficient just to save the code to a different file, download a newer copy, and then re-apply their original changes to the new copy than to try and understand and use Git's own convoluted built-in commands to attempt to fix it properly.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball points to a computer on a desk near Ponytail and Hairy.]
:Cueball: This is Git. It tracks collaborative work on projects through a beautiful distributed graph theory tree model.
:Ponytail: Cool. How do we use it?
:Cueball: No idea. Just memorize these shell commands and type them to sync up. If you get errors, save your work elsewhere, delete the project, and download a fresh copy.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Internet]]

1519: Venus

2015-05-02T06:06:14Z

Kaa-ching: /* Explanation */ added a small hint on butterflies being actual pollinators

{{comic
| number = 1519
| date = May 1, 2015
| title = Venus
| image = venus.png
| titletext = The sudden introduction of Venusian flowers led to an explosive growth of unusual Earth pollinators, which became known as the "butterfly effect."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This explanation requires some touching up.}}
[[Miss Lenhart]] is teaching a class scientifically incorrect information that oppose the majority of currently scientifically acknowledged facts concerning the planet Venus, while using actual scientific terminology incorrectly to support her claims.

In the first panel we see Miss Lenhart teaching the history of Venus. Planetary scientists think that Venus may have had surface water billions of years ago, but it all evaporated due to stronger sunlight, and was eventually lost due to ultraviolet dissociation. However, there is no evidence that Venus ever had fields of flowers, or Venusians, or any other form of life.

In the second panel, {{w|runaway greenhouse effect}} is a pun. Miss Lenhart uses the term literally and claims the existence of sentient greenhouses actually running away. In reality, the effect caused Venus to develop a thick atmosphere of carbon dioxide, which raised its temperature to 460 C (860 F), hotter than daytime on Mercury.

The third panel ties the previous distortion into the very real (but unconnected) {{w|Tulip mania|historic reputation}} of the Netherlands as {{w|Netherlands#Agriculture|flower growers}}, as a further fabrication by Miss Lenhart. In the final panel we see that she is a month away from retirement and doesn't care about relaying accurate information anymore.

The title text is a pun on the {{w|Butterfly effect}}, because {{w|Butterfly|Butterflies}} help to pollinate flowers on Earth, misattributing it to Miss Lenhart's false explanation of history.

==Transcript==
:[Miss Lenhart is standing in front of an image, presumably a temperate Venus, with greenhouses, grass, flowers and a river flowing into a sea.]
:Miss Lenhart: Venus once was temperate. It had seas and rivers, and Venusians cultivated vast fields of beautiful flowers.

:[The image is now zoomed out to see the entirety of Venus, with continents and oceans. The greenhouses are shown fleeing ("running") away from Venus.]
:Miss Lenhart: Until their greenhouses fled the planet due to the runaway greenhouse effect.

:[Miss Lenhart is now standing in front of a classroom and addressing the students, we see one of these, a young girl with a loose hair bun, sitting at a desk.]
:Miss Lenhart: The Venusians pursued their greenhouses to Earth, settling in the Netherlands and kickstarting the Dutch floral industry. Any questions?

:Offscreen: Because you're retiring in a month, do you just not care what you say anymore?
:Miss Lenhart: ''What?!'' I '''''ride the skies''''' atop a screaming bird of truth! Also, yes, I do not.

==Trivia==
*It is not directly mentioned that this is Miss Lenhart, but her look and profession fits this character well enough to make this deduction.

{{comic discussion}}


[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Puns]]

1452: Jurassic World

2014-11-26T08:35:59Z

Kaa-ching: adding Jurassic Park as a category

{{comic
| number = 1452
| date = November 26, 2014
| title = Jurassic World
| image = jurassic_world.png
| titletext = Hey guys! What's eating you? Ha ha ha it's me! Oh, what fun we have.
}}

==Explanation==
This strip refers to ''[[wikipedia:Jurassic World|Jurassic World]]'', the new ''[[wikipedia:Jurassic Park|Jurassic Park]]'' movie. Megan doesn't feel that the T-Rex from the original movie can be improved upon, while White Hat insists they've created an even more terrifying, smarter T-Rex for this new movie. At one point White Hat says that for something "two decades old", art designers and modern computer graphics should be able to create something more convincing; Megan is about to object to the notion that T-Rex's are only 20 years old, setting up part of the punchline. In the final panel, White Hat introduces the new T-Rex, who is immediately recognizable as the T-Rex from Ryan North's ''[[wikipedia:Dinosaur Comics|Dinosaur Comics]]''. The joke is that ''Dinosaur Comics'''s T-Rex is about as far from smart and scary as it is possible for a T-Rex to be (as suggested by the alt text).

Characters from ''Dinosaur Comics'' also appeared in [[145:_Parody_Week:_Dinosaur_Comics|strip #145]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

[[Category:Jurassic_Park]]
{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1448: Question

2014-11-17T08:55:10Z

Kaa-ching: Created page with "... and I thought the 'LIKE like you' would be a reference to Facebook... ~~~~"

... and I thought the 'LIKE like you' would be a reference to Facebook... [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 08:55, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

1399: Chaos

2014-07-25T07:52:32Z

Kaa-ching: adding Jurassic Park as a category.

{{comic
| number = 1399
| date = July 25, 2014
| title = Chaos
| image = chaos.png
| titletext = Although the oral exam for the doctorate was just 'can you do that weird laugh?'
}}

==Explanation==

This comic pokes fun at the 1993 film {{w|Jurassic_Park_(film)|Jurassic Park}}, which features a theme park filled with cloned dinosaurs. In the film, chaos ensues when all the dinosaurs escape and begin terrorizing their creators. The reference to "phase space, nonlinear equations, and strange attractors" is a direct quotation from the movie, in which Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), a mathematician and {{w|Chaos_theory|chaos theorist}} brought in to inspect the park prior to its grand opening, suggests that the dinosaurs' escaping could have been predicted based on mathematical chaos models.

Cueball explains that although he is as much of an expert on chaos theory as Malcolm, he has never been able to find where chaos models predict that dinosaurs would escape. Cueball's confusion highlights the contrast between the mathematical definition of chaos - shown in the graphs on the whiteboard - and its common meaning - a state of utter confusion or disorder (as illustrated in the film).

The whiteboard shows a {{w|Bifurcation_diagram|bifurcation diagram}} of the {{w|logistic map}} is shown (one of the simplest examples of the mathematical concept of chaos, also featured in what-if 105) and a {{w|Dragon_curve|Dragon curve}}.

The title text references the scene in Jurassic Park in which Goldblum, as Malcolm, while making small talk with Drs. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) during the helicopter ride to the park, responds to a remark with an odd-sounding laugh [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlOx9738iyw]. The laugh has gained minor internet notoriety after being used as the central sample in at least one remix [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJelEXaPhJ8].

The comic may be timely, as a {{w|Jurassic_World|fourth film}} in the Jurassic Park franchise is scheduled for release in June 2015.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is staring at a whiteboard covered with equations and graphs. The {{w|dragon curve}} and a schematic of the {{w|bifurcation diagram}} of the {{w|logistic map}} (both famous figures from chaos theory) are visible.]
:Cueball: For two decades, I've studied phase space, nonlinear equations, and strange attractors.
:Cueball: And there is nothing in here about dinosaurs escaping.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Jurassic Park]]

1393: Timeghost

2014-07-12T07:05:52Z

Kaa-ching: /* Explanation */ fix grammar

{{comic
| number = 1393
| date = July 11, 2014
| title = Timeghost
| image = timeghost.png
| titletext = 'Hello, Ghostbusters?' 'ooOOoooo people born years after that movie came out are having a second chiiiild right now ooOoooOoo'
}}

==Explanation==
[[Megan]] has been haunted by a ''Timeghost'' for some time. It is obviously not the first time the ghost arrives to let Megan know that "...ooOOOOOOOOooo... Tiiiime is passiiiing!" The ghost is dedicated to making people feel old by stating some facts relating the passing of time to some famous movie, actor or TV-show. Megan is just annoyed that it is back and wishes it to go away.

But then when [[Cueball]] ask "How long has it been doing this?" the ghost suddenly predicts that Megan and Cueball will die in a shorter amount of time than the time that has past sine the ghost's began its hauntings. This disturbs Megan who stops her complaining and asks "'''What!?'''" This is not the first time she has been haunted by the ghost but it has probably not been that long, so this is a very scary thought to her (and Cueball).

We do, however, not know how long they have left. Also the "staaaaart of my haunting" may refer to the first time the ghost haunted anyone, not just Megan. This could be a looong time ago and thus be true for anyone it meets. It is also possible Timeghost is being deliberately ambiguous in an effort to frighten them even more. This is of course only scary if you believe the ghost can predict the future, which is not what it has been doing so far (so there is no example where it did predict the future!)

But one thing about the prediction is true - they will eventually '''die'''. And this is the scary part about realizing how old you are and that you are getting older: You will die soon.

A {{w|factoid}} is a questionable or spurious statement presented as a fact. In this instance, some of the ''factoids'' are easily verifiable, while others are reasonable assumptions based on the number of years passed since the individual events. Several sources advocate the use of the word "factlet" to express a brief interesting fact, while using the word "factoid" for unverifiable or untrue statements passed as fact.

While ''factoids'' tend only to have mostly only entertainment value, then the last ''fact'' from the ghost is a prediction of the future (your death) which is actually of some practical value if it can be trusted.

"Timeghost" might be a literal interpretation of {{w|Zeitgeist}}, which is a German term for "spirit of time" and refers to the school of thought that influences or dominates the art and culture of a time period. All the events and people mentioned in this comic have may be considered influences in present day art and culture.

In the title text Megan calls {{w|Ghostbusters}} (from the 1984 movie) to help get rid of the Timeghost. This of course makes the ghost state that "people born years after that movie came out are having a second chiiiild right now" making her feel old once more.

[[Randall]] has covered making people feel old several times in [[647: Scary]], [[891: Movie Ages]] and [[973: MTV Generation]]. Also see the blag post [http://blog.xkcd.com/2012/09/29/odd-temporal-milestones/ Odd Temporal Milestones].

A similar ghost with a much different agenda was seen in [[1108: Cautionary Ghost]].

'''Timeline'''
{| class="wikitable"
!Year||Event
|-
|1955-1975||{{w|Vietnam War}}
|-
|colspan="2"|19 years
|-
|1994||{{w|Forrest Gump (film)|Forrest Gump}}
|-
|colspan="2"|20 years
|-
|2014||Year of this comic
|-
|colspan="2"|
|-
|1964||{{w|Keanu Reeves}} (Actor) born
|-
|colspan="2"|2 years
|-
|1966||Today's new grandparents born (Average age: 48 in the US)
|-
|colspan="2"|48 years
|-
|2014||Year of this comic
|-
|colspan="2"|
|-
|1990||[http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr051.pdf Today's new parents born] (Average age: 24 in the US)
|-
|colspan="2"|3 years
|-
|1993-1994||{{w|The Simpsons}} Season 5
|-
|colspan="2"|2 years (from '93 to '95)
|-
|1994-1995||{{w|The Simpsons}} Season 6
|-
|colspan="2"|4 years
|-
|1999||{{w|Eminem}} (Rapper) got big (second album)
|-
|colspan="2"|15 years
|-
|2014||Year of this comic
|-
|colspan="2"|
|-
|1984||{{w|Ghostbusters}}
|-
|colspan="2"|3 years
|-
|1987||[http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr051.pdf Today's people just having a second child born] (Average age at first childbirth (24) + average gap between first two births (3))
|-
|colspan="2"|27 years
|-
|2014||Year of this comic
|}

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are approached by a floating ghost]
:Timeghost: ''...ooOOOOOOOOooo... Tiiiime is passiiiing!''
:Megan: Ugh. Timeghost.
:Cueball: Huh?
:Megan: Here come the factoids.

:[Timeghost floats around]
:Timeghost: ''Forrest Gump'' came out closer to the Vietnam War than to the present daaay.
:Megan: Go ''away!''
:Timeghost: The average new grand-parents are younger than Keanu Reeeeves!
:Cueball: That can't be right...

:[Megan clutches her head, possibly attempting to cover her ears]
:Timeghost: ''Today's new parents were ten when Eminem got big. Daaaaaad muuuuusic. They remember Simpsons season 5 or 6 at the '''earliest'''''.
:Megan: Argh!
:Cueball: How long has it been ''doing'' this?

:[Megan and Cueball looks up at the Timeghost as it delivers its most scary message]
:Timeghost: ''The staaaaart of my haunting is now further away than your deaaaths!''
:Megan: Will you sto- -'''''WHAT!?'''''
:Timeghost: ''ooOOOOOOOoo''
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

Talk:1392: Dominant Players

2014-07-09T08:00:19Z

Kaa-ching:

This may be related to the recent MOBA segregation controversy: http://www.pcgamer.com/uk/2014/07/02/hearthstone-tournament/

What is the significance of the line colors?

Naughty Randall, always label your axes! [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 08:00, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1381: Margin

2014-06-13T07:36:22Z

Kaa-ching:

Isn't it possible that a mathematician knows about the existance or the proof of something, but doen't know how to technically do it? In this case, the margin remark would be accurate and not so funny. They have found a proof of existance for infinite information compression, but not yet discovered an actual method to do it. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.56|141.101.104.56]] 05:32, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
:Yes, when there's no example, it's called a {{w|pure existence theorem}}. If you actually demonstrate an example, that is a {{w|constructive proof}}. [[User:Mattflaschen|Mattflaschen]] ([[User talk:Mattflaschen|talk]]) 05:38, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
Setting font-size to 0 would be the same as not ''printing'' any information at all, you'll still use the same number of bits and be able to send the text to other computers which can read the information. The Shannon-Hartley theorem is, as far as I can see from the wikipedia article, about analogue channels anyway. --[[User:Buggz|Buggz]] ([[User talk:Buggz|talk]]) 06:16, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

Isn't this also a reference to {{w|Jan Sloot}}'s digital compression mechanism where a movie would fit into 8 kbyte? [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 07:36, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

1378: Turbine

2014-06-06T07:38:11Z

Kaa-ching: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1378
| date = June 6, 2014
| title = Turbine
| image = turbine.png
| titletext = Ok, plan B: Fly a kite into the blades, with a rock in a sling dangling below it, and create the world's largest trebuchet.
}}

==Explanation==

This is a pun. A windmill (where the blades are moved by the wind) is not a fan (where the fan blades move the air).

Until Facebook changed to the current mechanism with "like", they had a button "I'm a fan". A windmill could be seen as the ultimate big fan.

A {{w|trebuchet}} is a type of catapult. The setup described would not be a trebuchet, as the energy rotating the arm and flinging the rock would not be from a raised counterweight.

==Transcript==
:[Megan is talking to a giant wind turbine.]
:Megan: I'll hold up a big kite, and you blow air at me until I lift off!
:Megan: What do you think of that idea?
:Wind turbine: I'm not a huge fan.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

1372: Smartwatches

2014-05-23T07:22:39Z

Kaa-ching: /* Explanation */ add some links with basic info

{{comic
| number = 1372
| date = May 23, 2014
| title = Smartwatches
| image = smartwatches.png
| titletext = This is even better than my previous smartphone casemod: an old Western Electric Model 2500 desk phone handset complete with a frayed, torn-off cord dangling from it.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}

The phone referenced in the title text: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_500_telephone]

Case modding is the art of building (usually computers) into nicely shaped non-standard cases [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Case_modding]

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}

1354: Heartbleed Explanation

2014-04-11T07:39:35Z

Kaa-ching: fix typo

{{comic
| number = 1354
| date = April 11, 2014
| title = Heartbleed Explanation
| image = heartbleed_explanation.png
| titletext = Are you still there, server? It's me, Margaret.
}}

==Explanation==
The {{w|Heartbleed bug}} has received a lot of news coverage recently and was also the topic of the previous comic ([[1353]]). This comic explains how the bug may have been discovered and can be exploited to reveal a server's memory contents. A hypothetical hacker (Meg) sends heartbeat requests to the server, the server responds to the heartbeat request by returning the contents of the body of the request up to the number of letters requested. The first two requests are well formed, requesting exactly the number of characters in the request body. The server is shown "thinking" about Meg's request with many other thoughts going on at the same time, analogous to the internal memory contents of a real web server. The last request sends "HAT" but requests 500 letters, the server - unaware that 500 letters is larger than the request body - returns "HAT" plus 497 letters that happened to be next to the word "HAT" in its memory. Included are many sensitive bits of information, including a master key and user passwords.

The hover text is a reference to ''Are you there God? It's me, Margaret.'' a novel by Judy Bloome.

==Transcript==
:'''How the Heartbleed bug works:'''
:Megan: Server, are you still there? If so, reply "POTATO" (6 letters).
:Server (amongst other thoughts): User Meg wants these 6 letters: POTATO.
:Server: POTATO
:Megan: Server, are you still there? If so, reply "BIRD" (4 letters).
:Server (amongst other thoughts): User Meg wants these 4 letters: BIRD.
:Megan: Hmm...
:Server: BIRD
:Megan: Server, are you still there? If so, reply "HAT" (500 letters).
:Server (amongst other thoughts): User Meg wants these 500 letters: HAT.
:Server: HAT. Lucas requests the "missed connections" page. Eve (administrator) wants to set server's key to "14835038534". Isabel wants pages about "snakes but not too long". User Karen wants to change account password to "CoHoBaSt". User Amber requests pass...
:[Megan is seen writing this down.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Computers]]

419: Forks and Spoons

2014-03-12T09:10:44Z

Kaa-ching: /* Explanation */ elaborate a bit more on Mendelian genetics.

{{comic
| number = 419
| date = May 5, 2008
| title = Forks and Spoons
| image = forks and spoons.png
| titletext = Their biggest mistake was bringing Rachael Ray and Emeril to tour the lab and sign off on the project. That's when Spielberg caught wind of it.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic shows scientists testing a new technology similar to {{w|Mendelian inheritance}}, the blending of species.
This technology allows to cross a spork (a mix between a spoon and a fork) with either a spoon or a fork to make a new implement that was three quarters fork and one quarter spoon or vice versa. By blending these new fork-spork hybrids and their results together, the scientists could create any mix between a spoon and a fork. Obviously, regular genetics cannot apply to non-living items.

In the second panel, the amounts of spoon and fork are shown with fractions, the number on the left representing the amount of fork and the right the amount of spoon. The "fork-spoon spectrum" in between the third and fourth panels shows the complete spectrum of fork to spoon with some of the intermediate steps labeled, the numbers representing how much fork each contains. (so in the middle is a even 1/2-1/2; a spork, in between the spork and the spoon a 1/4-3/4 mix, in between that and the spoon a 1/8-7/8 mix, and so on)

The comic begins like standard sci-fi fare, where amoral scientists request funding from mysterious benefactors. The dialogue of "You're toying with powerful forces here" and "We know what we're doing" is a (warning: TV Tropes links) [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow classic trope], foreshadowing that things will soon [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoneHorriblyWrong go horribly wrong]. It inevitably leads to the humorous incongruity of a sentient {{w|spork}} on a murderous rampage.

{{w|Rachael Ray}} and {{w|Emeril}} are celebrity chefs, and {{w|Steven Spielberg}} is a famous movie director. The joke seems to be that if the laboratory hadn't hired the two renowned chefs, Spielberg wouldn't have made a movie in which Rachael's and Emeril's characters are killed off horribly. The plot in the comic is very similar to the story in Spielberg's {{W|Jurassic_Park_(film)|Jurrasic Park}}.

==Transcript==
:Megan: A spoon crossed with a fork is a spork.
:Off-panel Megan's voice: Our lab has successfully crossed a spork with a spoon. [Diagram showing the fractions of fork and spoon in each item.]
:[Chart showing possible combinations of spoons a forks.]
:Megan, facing audience: With your funding, we could create hybrids in proportions corresponding to ''any binary fraction''.
:[Fork-Spoon Spectrum.]
:Audience member: You're toying with powerful forces here.
:Megan: We know what we're doing.
:Two weeks later:
:[Picture of a destroyed lab with two dead bodies, blood everywhere and a spoon-fork hybrid hopping away.]
:''Hop hop hop.''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Jurassic Park]]

419: Forks and Spoons

2014-03-12T09:04:32Z

Kaa-ching: adding Jurassic Park as a category.

{{comic
| number = 419
| date = May 5, 2008
| title = Forks and Spoons
| image = forks and spoons.png
| titletext = Their biggest mistake was bringing Rachael Ray and Emeril to tour the lab and sign off on the project. That's when Spielberg caught wind of it.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic shows scientists testing a new technology: the ability to cross a spork (a mix between a spoon and a fork) with either a spoon or a fork to make a new implement that was three quarters fork and one quarter spoon or vice versa. By blending these new fork-spork hybrids and their results together, the scientists could create any mix between a spoon and a fork. In the second panel, the amounts of spoon and fork are shown with fractions, the number on the left representing the amount of fork and the right the amount of spoon. The "fork-spoon spectrum" in between the third and fourth panels shows the complete spectrum of fork to spoon with some of the intermediate steps labeled, the numbers representing how much fork each contains. (so in the middle is a even 1/2-1/2; a spork, in between the spork and the spoon a 1/4-3/4 mix, in between that and the spoon a 1/8-7/8 mix, and so on)
The comic begins like standard sci-fi fare, where amoral scientists request funding from mysterious benefactors. The dialogue of "You're toying with powerful forces here" and "We know what we're doing" is a (warning: TV Tropes links) [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow classic trope], foreshadowing that things will soon [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoneHorriblyWrong go horribly wrong]. It inevitably leads to the humorous incongruity of a sentient {{w|spork}} on a murderous rampage.

{{w|Rachael Ray}} and {{w|Emeril}} are celebrity chefs, and {{w|Steven Spielberg}} is a famous movie director. The joke seems to be that if the laboratory hadn't hired the two renowned chefs, Spielberg wouldn't have made a movie in which Rachael's and Emeril's characters are killed off horribly. The plot in the comic is very similar to the story in Spielberg's {{W|Jurassic_Park_(film)|Jurrasic Park}}.

==Transcript==
:Megan: A spoon crossed with a fork is a spork.
:Off-panel Megan's voice: Our lab has successfully crossed a spork with a spoon. [Diagram showing the fractions of fork and spoon in each item.]
:[Chart showing possible combinations of spoons a forks.]
:Megan, facing audience: With your funding, we could create hybrids in proportions corresponding to ''any binary fraction''.
:[Fork-Spoon Spectrum.]
:Audience member: You're toying with powerful forces here.
:Megan: We know what we're doing.
:Two weeks later:
:[Picture of a destroyed lab with two dead bodies, blood everywhere and a spoon-fork hybrid hopping away.]
:''Hop hop hop.''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Jurassic Park]]

Talk:1323: Protocol

2014-01-30T09:33:07Z

Kaa-ching:

This is funny. I was really drawn into the conversation due to the names. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.117|108.162.246.117]] 07:05, 29 January 2014 (UTC)
:Me too! And I'm even more drawn to the meta-conversation!! :) [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 13:30, 29 January 2014 (UTC)
::But what about me? Alice and Bob get way too much time already.... [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_and_Bob Carol (whisper) 13:30 29 January 2014 (UTC)]
Eve appears in [[177: Alice and Bob]] --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 08:14, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

Heh. I was immediately reminded of the movie, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064100/ I wonder if that movie influenced the encryption names, or vice versa, or mere coincidence?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.72|108.162.216.72]] 12:31, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

I think the explanation looks complete to me. I vote to remove the tag. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:04, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

Removed then. There was someone who asked for more [[Cryptography]] comic references. I found 14 and have thus made a new category (see link below). Feel free to add more if I have not found them all by searching on Cryptography and Encryption (I have only included those where there were some direct mention of these issues in the commic - or title text) and not just because there was mention of it in the explanation. However, the words does not have to appear in the commic before I included them. i.e. [[PGP]]. But also feel free to delete one from the list if I was too quick to include it [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:45, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

The description misses a key aspect of the comic. The conversation follows the pattern of a message being sent from Cueball to the Computer Scientist, with the CS sending an acknowledgement back and Cueball continuing --- much in the matter of an internet communication protocol, as referenced in the title. [[User:JamesCurran|JamesCurran]] ([[User talk:JamesCurran|talk]]) 17:06, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

Really excellent explanation. Complete, concise and well written, with some helpful notes in the comments. Keep up the good work! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.58|108.162.219.58]] 18:43, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

I agree this would explain the protocol title, but how does it compute with the message at the bottom: ''I've discovered a way to get computer scientists to listen to any boring story''? [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:55, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

I believe the essence of this story is in the encryption aspect, not the TCP. Many protocols feature a message-and-reply type of structure, it's not unique to TCP. The alternative to having CS reply to each phrase is to have him not reply to each phrase, which would be boring and not really indicate what's going on in CS's head. As some cryptography problems can be complex they are sometimes stated in "chunks" so people can follow along [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dining_cryptographers_problem more easily] (See the Description section of the link). In trying to follow what might be a complex problem sometimes people will acknowledge that they understand each part in turn - weather for their own benefit or that of the problem stater. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 21:04, 29 January 2014 (UTC)
:Found it: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Schneier Bruce Schneier], a notable modern Cryptographer has published a number of cryptography books in which he routinely references characters such as Alice, Bob, and Eve. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]])
:Also: TCP/IP doesn't necessarily ack every packet, it can also ack multiple packets in one go. This allows for a much larger throughput as the latency per packet goes down to zero. [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 09:33, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

1224: Council of 300

2013-12-27T17:32:09Z

Kaa-ching: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1224
| date = June 12, 2013
| title = Council of 300
| image = council_of_300.png
| titletext = 'And hypnotize someone into thinking they've uploaded it and passed it around.' 'But then won't the uploader get suspicious that it pauses at 301+ for a while? Why don't we just forge the number entirel--' ::BLAM:: 'The Council of 299 is adjourned.'
}}

==Explanation==

{{w|YouTube}} (a video sharing site) has an odd quirk in its view counter. When a video hits 301 views, the view counter briefly stops updating. This means that YouTube is checking the views to make sure that no foul play is going on. (The choice of the number 301 is due to a harmless off-by-one error; Numberphile produced a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIkhgagvrjI video] that explains all this very well.) At times the number 301 catches some YouTubers off guard — for very popular videos, it may appear that the video has more likes than views!

More recently YouTube added a "301+" to indicate that the video has reached the 301 point and is awaiting review.

The author plays with the near coincidence of this number, and a conspiracy theory entity known as the {{w|Committee of 300}}. In this case, the video's first 300 views come from each of the Committee's council members who determine if the video will go {{w|Viral_video|viral}}. The video is then released to the public by sending it to a regular person ([[Cueball]] in this comic) making the total number of views 301.

The title text elaborates on this by explaining that the council also hypnotizes somebody to make him think they uploaded and shared that particular video.

According to the title text, the counsel does not seem to tolerate contradiction, because the member that suggests changing 301 to a random number to avoid suspicion is silenced (permanently?) and removed from the counsel.

==Transcript==
:[A secret society meets in a darkened chamber; a kitschy video involving two people and an RC helicopter is projected onto the background.]
:Master: ..then it is settled. We the 300 members of the Secret Council decree that this video meets our standards and shall "go viral".
:Master: send it to one of our agents to be leaked to the common folk.
:Steward: Some of them are noticing the number.
:Master: ..add a plus sign to throw them off.
:Steward: very well.
:Soon...
:[A communication sent to Cueball, one of the many unsuspecting plebeians of the world.]
:Email: Ooh! check out this great video I found!
:[Zoom in on the viewer count of a YouTube video.]
:301+

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:YouTube]]

Talk:1309: Infinite Scrolling

2013-12-27T12:45:52Z

Kaa-ching:

I think the title text is supposed to be sarcasm. Note that it IS possible to keep track of section of javascript-generated pages, but it's harder and I'm not sure if there is cross-browser way to make back button work with them, it's possible you need different code for every browser. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:48, 27 December 2013 (UTC)

Shouldn't we add a few examples of websites that currently exhibit this behavior? Facebook and Twitter come to mind... [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 12:45, 27 December 2013 (UTC)

1308: Christmas Lights

2013-12-26T13:54:29Z

Kaa-ching: /* Transcript */ note that there isn't one.

{{comic
| number = 1308
| date = December 25, 2013
| title = Christmas Lights
| image = christmas_lights.png
| titletext = Merry Christmas from xkcd!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Check grammar, check spectra and reference good fits to what is here}}
Each light in this Christmas scene is represented by its {{w|electromagnetic spectrum}}, which shows in a graphical form how much energy is radiated by each wavelength of light.

These graphs cover only the visible radiation plus some infrared and some ultraviolet. There are 4 distinct spectra in this comic:

In the center of the image, between Beret Guy and the couple Cueball and Megan appears a light spectrum of a fire, notable because it emits a lot of energy in the infrared band (The left zone of the spectrum), emitted typically from hot sources, and in the red and orange zone (typical colors of a fire). The spike toward the left hand side of the spectrum is probably the 4.3 µm resonance frequency of hot CO2 characteristic of burning hydrocarbons (see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flame_detection#Emission_of_radiation here)]. Given the size of the spectrum and its positioning, this represents a fireplace at which the characters are warming themselves against the winter chill.

In the right of the comic appear some spectra arranged in the form of a Christmas tree. There are 3 different spectra in this "Christmas tree":

At the top appears a complex spectrum, possibly that of a white LED (see [http://led-brdf.wikispaces.com/Introduction+to+LEDs here]), representing the tradition in some cultures of putting a star at the top of the Christmas tree.

In the branches there are two simpler spectra, one with a peak in the green zone, representing a green light source, and other with a peak in the red zone, representing a red light source. Both of these represent the tradition of putting colorful decoration in the tree, in this case apparently red and green colored Christmas lights.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

Apparently, this comic does not have a transcript...

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

1295: New Study

2013-11-26T09:50:08Z

Kaa-ching: /* Explanation */ add HIMYM Barney Stinson

{{comic
| number = 1295
| date = November 25, 2013
| title = New Study
| image = new_study.png
| titletext = When the results are published, no one will be sure whether to report on them again.
}}

==Explanation==
This is another of Randall's jabs at modern news networks.

Some examples of how true this can be:

* A July 2011 hoax study correlated {{w|Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and Browser Usage}}, specifically asserting that Microsoft Internet Explorer users had a significantly lower I.Q. than other users. The study was reported by over 30 news outlets including NPR, ''Forbes'', CBS News, ''San Francisco Chronicle'', ''The Inquirer'', and ''CNN''. The perpetrator made little effort to conceal the deception by publishing it on a freshly created domain name with a parking lot as the corporate address, and was surprised that so many reputable outlets did no fact checking.
* [http://eldeforma.com/2012/08/27/samsung-paga-multa-de-1-billon-de-dolares-a-apple-en-monedas-de-5-centavos/#axzz2lfjwKjjt Samsung pays $1bn USD fine to Apple with 20 billion 5 cent coins]: widely reported on news networks in November 2013
* Even many low-tier scientific journals don't do proper checking. Over a hundred of them accepted a fake, error-ridden cancer study for publication in a spoof organized by Science magazine, as reported by National Geographic: [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/10/131003-bohannon-science-spoof-open-access-peer-review-cancer/ Fake Cancer Study Spotlights Bogus Science Journals].

Related jokes:

* "87% of statistics are made up on the spot" (which is itself completely fictitious). This joke has most famously been referenced by the [http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2008-05-08/ May 8, 2008 Dilbert comic strip].
* "64 percent of all the world's statistics are made up right there on the spot, 82.4 percent of people believe 'em whether they're accurate statistics or not" - Statistician's Blues, by Todd Snider ([http://www.cowboylyrics.com/tabs/snider-todd/statistician-blues-10809.html lyrics]; [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUK6zjtUj00 video]).
* 83% is the made-up statistics number that {{w|How I Met Your Mother}} character {{w|Barney Stinson}} uses to charm ladies.

The Title Text of this comic creates a whole new layer of irony. It implies that the study being reported on in the comic is itself part of an actual study to research whether news organizations will report on studies without fact checking. When the results of this real study are finally published, Randall implies that news organizations may be confused as whether to publish the results of this real study or not.

Side note: People making the substitutions in [[1288: Substitutions|a comic posted two weeks before this one]] will read this comic as one about {{w|Tumblr}} posts.

==Transcript==
:Reporter: ...And in science news, according to a new study, 85% of news organizations repeat "new study" press releases without checking whether they're real.
{{comic discussion}}

980: Money

2013-11-20T21:37:58Z

Kaa-ching: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 980
| date = November 21, 2011
| title = Money
| image = money.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = There, I showed you it.
}}
As usual, click the date above the comic to go to the xkcd page, and there is a link to the ''much'' larger (Google Maps-like) version. Go find something interesting, don't worry, the wiki will still be here.

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|980: Money}}
Well, that's why this one is late. It is MASSIVE. This is another [[:Category:Charts|chart]] that [[Randall]] does for xkcd from time to time. He has done [[Online Communities|maps of]] [[Online Communities 2|the Internet]] (twice) and other huge visualizations.

Dollar increments are different colors. Dollar increments are green. (Naturally, because American paper money is green.) Thousands are Orange/Red. Millions are gray. Billions are yellow. Trillions are blue.

In the Billions box there is a vague term called the "Economic Vortex" as well as arrows that flow between different blocks of this box. This is to show where the money goes. Where it is collected from, and where it is distributed to.

The title text is a reference to the phrase "Show me the money!" which originates from the film 'Jerry Maguire'.

;Dollars
*Middle-left: Pet Ownership. The {{w|ASPCA}} is the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
*Bottom-right: Four boxes indicate that the CEO pay has skyrocketed from 490.31 (hourly) to $5,419.97 (hourly) in the same time period in which the average worker's salary has skyrocketed 10 cents.

;Thousands
*Top-right: Hogwarts degree: a reference to {{w|Hogwarts|Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy}} from the popular book series by {{w|J.K. Rowling}} about {{w|Harry Potter}}. One box is the estimated yearly tuition for the school and the next is how much seven years at the school would cost. To get a degree at the school, it takes 7 years (starting at age 11, ending at age 18).
*Bottom: A reference to the song by {{w|Bare Naked Ladies}} entitled "{{w|If I Had $1000000}}" and all the things referenced in the song to buy the love of another person.
* Bottom: A few items on the marriage of {{w|Wedding_of_Prince_William_and_Catherine_Middleton|Kate Middleton and Prince William}}, the major royal wedding of 2011, including:
** a {{w|Wedding_dress_of_Kate_Middleton|wedding dress with its own wikipedia page}} of 3 times the annual per capita income of the average UK person,
** an 8-tier [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1381944/Royal-Wedding-cake-Kate-Middleton-requested-8-tiers-decorated-900-flowers.html wedding cake],
** and the flowers for the wedding. These re-appear in the Millions section of the graph, where they also list the costs for the security around the event ($20 million).

;Millions
*Middle-right: another reference to JK Rowling, in this case it is {{w|MC Front-A-Lot}} (The creator of the subgenre of {{w|hip-hop}} known as "{{w|Nerd Core}}") who estimated her net worth at $1 billion. But, that begs the question, why do the boxes only add up to $82,000?

;Billions
*Top-Left: Billionaires section: Fictional Billionaires sub-section:
**{{w|Carlisle Cullen}} is from the {{w|Twilight (series)|Twilight Series}} of books and movies. He is a vampire and adoptive father of {{w|Edward Cullen|Edward}}, {{w|Emmett Cullen|Emmett}} and {{w|Alice Cullen (Twilight)|Alice Cullen}}, as well as {{w|Rosalie Hale|Rosalie}} and {{w|Jasper Hale}}. He was born in the 1640s and amassed his wealth through many years of compound interest and investments.
**{{w|Scrooge McDuck}} is a cartoon character from many {{w|Disney}} properties including the afternoon cartoon, {{w|Duck Tales}}. Scrooge McDuck has a "money bin" full of coins and other sorts of collectibles that he routinely [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMU2NwaaXEA goes swimming in].
**{{w|Bruce Wayne}} is {{w|Batman}}. {{w|Batman}} is {{w|Bruce Wayne}}. He is portrayed in many comic books, graphic novels, TV shows and movies by many different actors.
**{{w|Artemis Fowl II|Artemis Fowl}} is an Irish child prodigy and a ruthless master criminal from the {{w|Artemis Fowl (series)|eponymous book series}}. He uses his intelligence to build his family fortune through crime.

;Trillions
As Randall already indicated in the transcript, this is the block for world, continent and nation finances. The numbers are really huge.
There are no jokes in here (apart from the fact that Randall tried to make the shapes of the GDP look like the continent), likely because financial values this large aren't funny to start with.
* GDP is {{w|Gross domestic product}}, the market value of all goods and services produced in a nation.
** The major chart in the center shows the development of the GDP in the world since the 1940s. So far the US GDP has always grown, except for a small reduction in the early 1980's, a flat line around the 1991 global recession and a flat line in the second half of the naugths. The world-wide GDP is growing more rapidly, but is also much more volatile.
* In the middle of the box, it shows the worth of all gold ever mined in 2011 prices. This is important because of the concept of the {{w|Gold standard}}, a concept where monetary values are linked to the value of gold. As indicated in the top-right of the box, both the EU and the USA have more debt than the total value of all gold in the world.
* {{w|Derivatives}} are a complex financial instrument where one is not trading in something tangible, but in derived values - like options. Derivatives thus are dangerous as one trades in concepts instead of values. Critics claim that derivatives are at the base of the 'economic bubble'.
** The growth of the derivatives market size is incredible - more than doubling every four years. The derivates market thus is much larger than the GDP of the entire world.

==Trivia==
*xkcd comics are usually posted at, or around, midnight Eastern time the day of the comic (Monday, Wednesday, Friday). This one was posted at about noon on Monday
*Each amount has a source at http://xkcd.com/980/sources/ In the dollars section there is a statement that at every possible opportunity Randall used a scholarly work or government publication.

==Transcript==
Money

all of it

(this transcription is only reproducing text visible on the front page comic. There are 5 large panels, each with a series of plots, comparing the values of various things.)

*Dollars
**(This section covers single coffees up to the hourly salaries of CEOs)

*Thousands
**(This section discusses values from around $1000 to $1000000, including a dissection of the song ''If I had $1000000'')

*Millions
**(This section focuses on $1000,000 to $1000,000,000, with a large section on campaign contributions of American political presidential campaigns, values of expensive works of art, and J. K. Rowling.)

*Billions
**(This section gets into larger scale finances, profits of various sectors, costs of natural disasters, and net worths of the richest people on the planet. Also, Donald Trump.)

*Trillions
**(Global financial status is described here. It discusses derivatives, liquid assets, public debt by nation and GDP by continent, culminating with the total economic production of the human race to date.)

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Charts]]

980: Money

2013-11-20T21:32:59Z

Kaa-ching: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 980
| date = November 21, 2011
| title = Money
| image = money.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = There, I showed you it.
}}
As usual, click the date above the comic to go to the xkcd page, and there is a link to the ''much'' larger (Google Maps-like) version. Go find something interesting, don't worry, the wiki will still be here.

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|980: Money}}
Well, that's why this one is late. It is MASSIVE. This is another [[:Category:Charts|chart]] that [[Randall]] does for xkcd from time to time. He has done [[Online Communities|maps of]] [[Online Communities 2|the Internet]] (twice) and other huge visualizations.

Dollar increments are different colors. Dollar increments are green. (Naturally, because American paper money is green.) Thousands are Orange/Red. Millions are gray. Billions are yellow. Trillions are blue.

In the Billions box there is a vague term called the "Economic Vortex" as well as arrows that flow between different blocks of this box. This is to show where the money goes. Where it is collected from, and where it is distributed to.

The title text is a reference to the phrase "Show me the money!" which originates from the film 'Jerry Maguire'.

;Dollars
*Middle-left: Pet Ownership. The {{w|ASPCA}} is the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
*Bottom-right: Four boxes indicate that the CEO pay has skyrocketed from 490.31 (hourly) to $5,419.97 (hourly) in the same time period in which the average worker's salary has skyrocketed 10 cents.

;Thousands
*Top-right: Hogwarts degree: a reference to {{w|Hogwarts|Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy}} from the popular book series by {{w|J.K. Rowling}} about {{w|Harry Potter}}. One box is the estimated yearly tuition for the school and the next is how much seven years at the school would cost. To get a degree at the school, it takes 7 years (starting at age 11, ending at age 18).
*Bottom: A reference to the song by {{w|Bare Naked Ladies}} entitled "{{w|If I Had $1000000}}" and all the things referenced in the song to buy the love of another person.
* Bottom: A few items on the marriage of {{w|Wedding_of_Prince_William_and_Catherine_Middleton|Kate Middleton and Prince William}}, the major royal wedding of 2011, including:
** a {{w|Wedding_dress_of_Kate_Middleton|wedding dress with its own wikipedia page}} of 3 times the annual per capita income of the average UK person,
** an 8-tier {{http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1381944/Royal-Wedding-cake-Kate-Middleton-requested-8-tiers-decorated-900-flowers.html|wedding cake}}
** and the flowers for the wedding. These re-appear in the Millions section, where they also list the costs for the security around the event ($20 million).

;Millions
*Middle-right: another reference to JK Rowling, in this case it is {{w|MC Front-A-Lot}} (The creator of the subgenre of {{w|hip-hop}} known as "{{w|Nerd Core}}") who estimated her net worth at $1 billion. But, that begs the question, why do the boxes only add up to $82,000?

;Billions
*Top-Left: Billionaires section: Fictional Billionaires sub-section:
**{{w|Carlisle Cullen}} is from the {{w|Twilight (series)|Twilight Series}} of books and movies. He is a vampire and adoptive father of {{w|Edward Cullen|Edward}}, {{w|Emmett Cullen|Emmett}} and {{w|Alice Cullen (Twilight)|Alice Cullen}}, as well as {{w|Rosalie Hale|Rosalie}} and {{w|Jasper Hale}}. He was born in the 1640s and amassed his wealth through many years of compound interest and investments.
**{{w|Scrooge McDuck}} is a cartoon character from many {{w|Disney}} properties including the afternoon cartoon, {{w|Duck Tales}}. Scrooge McDuck has a "money bin" full of coins and other sorts of collectibles that he routinely [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMU2NwaaXEA goes swimming in].
**{{w|Bruce Wayne}} is {{w|Batman}}. {{w|Batman}} is {{w|Bruce Wayne}}. He is portrayed in many comic books, graphic novels, TV shows and movies by many different actors.
**{{w|Artemis Fowl II|Artemis Fowl}} is an Irish child prodigy and a ruthless master criminal from the {{w|Artemis Fowl (series)|eponymous book series}}. He uses his intelligence to build his family fortune through crime.

;Trillions
As Randall already indicated in the transcript, this is the block for world, continent and nation finances. The numbers are really huge.
There are no jokes in here (apart from the fact that Randall tried to make the shapes of the GDP look like the continent), likely because financial values this large aren't funny to start with.
* GDP is {{w|Gross domestic product}}, the market value of all goods and services produced in a nation.
** The major chart in the center shows the development of the GDP in the world since the 1940s. So far the US GDP has always grown, except for a small reduction in the early 1980's, a flat line around the 1991 global recession and a flat line in the second half of the naugths. The world-wide GDP is growing more rapidly, but is also much more volatile.
* In the middle of the box, it shows the worth of all gold ever mined in 2011 prices. This is important because of the concept of the {{w|Gold standard}}, a concept where monetary values are linked to the value of gold. As indicated in the top-right of the box, both the EU and the USA have more debt than the total value of all gold in the world.
* {{w|Derivatives}} are a complex financial instrument where one is not trading in something tangible, but in derived values - like options. Derivatives thus are dangerous as one trades in concepts instead of values. Critics claim that derivatives are at the base of the 'economic bubble'.
** The growth of the derivatives market size is incredible - more than doubling every four years. The derivates market thus is much larger than the GDP of the entire world.

==Trivia==
*xkcd comics are usually posted at, or around, midnight Eastern time the day of the comic (Monday, Wednesday, Friday). This one was posted at about noon on Monday
*Each amount has a source at http://xkcd.com/980/sources/ In the dollars section there is a statement that at every possible opportunity Randall used a scholarly work or government publication.

==Transcript==
Money

all of it

(this transcription is only reproducing text visible on the front page comic. There are 5 large panels, each with a series of plots, comparing the values of various things.)

*Dollars
**(This section covers single coffees up to the hourly salaries of CEOs)

*Thousands
**(This section discusses values from around $1000 to $1000000, including a dissection of the song ''If I had $1000000'')

*Millions
**(This section focuses on $1000,000 to $1000,000,000, with a large section on campaign contributions of American political presidential campaigns, values of expensive works of art, and J. K. Rowling.)

*Billions
**(This section gets into larger scale finances, profits of various sectors, costs of natural disasters, and net worths of the richest people on the planet. Also, Donald Trump.)

*Trillions
**(Global financial status is described here. It discusses derivatives, liquid assets, public debt by nation and GDP by continent, culminating with the total economic production of the human race to date.)

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Charts]]

980: Money

2013-11-20T21:20:07Z

Kaa-ching: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 980
| date = November 21, 2011
| title = Money
| image = money.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = There, I showed you it.
}}
As usual, click the date above the comic to go to the xkcd page, and there is a link to the ''much'' larger (Google Maps-like) version. Go find something interesting, don't worry, the wiki will still be here.

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|980: Money}}
Well, that's why this one is late. It is MASSIVE. This is another [[:Category:Charts|chart]] that [[Randall]] does for xkcd from time to time. He has done [[Online Communities|maps of]] [[Online Communities 2|the Internet]] (twice) and other huge visualizations.

Dollar increments are different colors. Dollar increments are green. (Naturally, because American paper money is green.) Thousands are Orange/Red. Millions are gray. Billions are yellow. Trillions are blue.

In the Billions box there is a vague term called the "Economic Vortex" as well as arrows that flow between different blocks of this box. This is to show where the money goes. Where it is collected from, and where it is distributed to.

The title text is a reference to the phrase "Show me the money!" which originates from the film 'Jerry Maguire'.

;Dollars
*Middle-left: Pet Ownership. The {{w|ASPCA}} is the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
*Bottom-right: Four boxes indicate that the CEO pay has skyrocketed from 490.31 (hourly) to $5,419.97 (hourly) in the same time period in which the average worker's salary has skyrocketed 10 cents.

;Thousands
*Top-right: Hogwarts degree: a reference to {{w|Hogwarts|Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy}} from the popular book series by {{w|J.K. Rowling}} about {{w|Harry Potter}}. One box is the estimated yearly tuition for the school and the next is how much seven years at the school would cost. To get a degree at the school, it takes 7 years (starting at age 11, ending at age 18).
*Bottom: A reference to the song by {{w|Bare Naked Ladies}} entitled "{{w|If I Had $1000000}}" and all the things referenced in the song to buy the love of another person.

;Millions
*Middle-right: another reference to JK Rowling, in this case it is {{w|MC Front-A-Lot}} (The creator of the subgenre of {{w|hip-hop}} known as "{{w|Nerd Core}}") who estimated her net worth at $1 billion. But, that begs the question, why do the boxes only add up to $82,000?

;Billions
*Top-Left: Billionaires section: Fictional Billionaires sub-section:
**{{w|Carlisle Cullen}} is from the {{w|Twilight (series)|Twilight Series}} of books and movies. He is a vampire and adoptive father of {{w|Edward Cullen|Edward}}, {{w|Emmett Cullen|Emmett}} and {{w|Alice Cullen (Twilight)|Alice Cullen}}, as well as {{w|Rosalie Hale|Rosalie}} and {{w|Jasper Hale}}. He was born in the 1640s and amassed his wealth through many years of compound interest and investments.
**{{w|Scrooge McDuck}} is a cartoon character from many {{w|Disney}} properties including the afternoon cartoon, {{w|Duck Tales}}. Scrooge McDuck has a "money bin" full of coins and other sorts of collectibles that he routinely [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMU2NwaaXEA goes swimming in].
**{{w|Bruce Wayne}} is {{w|Batman}}. {{w|Batman}} is {{w|Bruce Wayne}}. He is portrayed in many comic books, graphic novels, TV shows and movies by many different actors.
**{{w|Artemis Fowl II|Artemis Fowl}} is an Irish child prodigy and a ruthless master criminal from the {{w|Artemis Fowl (series)|eponymous book series}}. He uses his intelligence to build his family fortune through crime.

;Trillions
As Randall already indicated in the transcript, this is the block for world, continent and nation finances. The numbers are really huge.
There are no jokes in here (apart from the fact that Randall tried to make the shapes of the GDP look like the continent), likely because financial values this large aren't funny to start with.
* GDP is {{w|Gross domestic product}}, the market value of all goods and services produced in a nation.
** The major chart in the center shows the development of the GDP in the world since the 1940s. So far the US GDP has always grown, except for a small reduction in the early 1980's, a flat line around the 1991 global recession and a flat line in the second half of the naugths. The world-wide GDP is growing more rapidly, but is also much more volatile.
* In the middle of the box, it shows the worth of all gold ever mined in 2011 prices. This is important because of the concept of the {{w|Gold standard}}, a concept where monetary values are linked to the value of gold. As indicated in the top-right of the box, both the EU and the USA have more debt than the total value of all gold in the world.
* {{w|Derivatives}} are a complex financial instrument where one is not trading in something tangible, but in derived values - like options. Derivatives thus are dangerous as one trades in concepts instead of values. Critics claim that derivatives are at the base of the 'economic bubble'.
** The growth of the derivatives market size is incredible - more than doubling every four years. The derivates market thus is much larger than the GDP of the entire world.

==Trivia==
*xkcd comics are usually posted at, or around, midnight Eastern time the day of the comic (Monday, Wednesday, Friday). This one was posted at about noon on Monday
*Each amount has a source at http://xkcd.com/980/sources/ In the dollars section there is a statement that at every possible opportunity Randall used a scholarly work or government publication.

==Transcript==
Money

all of it

(this transcription is only reproducing text visible on the front page comic. There are 5 large panels, each with a series of plots, comparing the values of various things.)

*Dollars
**(This section covers single coffees up to the hourly salaries of CEOs)

*Thousands
**(This section discusses values from around $1000 to $1000000, including a dissection of the song ''If I had $1000000'')

*Millions
**(This section focuses on $1000,000 to $1000,000,000, with a large section on campaign contributions of American political presidential campaigns, values of expensive works of art, and J. K. Rowling.)

*Billions
**(This section gets into larger scale finances, profits of various sectors, costs of natural disasters, and net worths of the richest people on the planet. Also, Donald Trump.)

*Trillions
**(Global financial status is described here. It discusses derivatives, liquid assets, public debt by nation and GDP by continent, culminating with the total economic production of the human race to date.)

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Charts]]

980: Money

2013-11-20T21:18:59Z

Kaa-ching: /* Explanation */ more explanation on the Trillions boxes.

{{comic
| number = 980
| date = November 21, 2011
| title = Money
| image = money.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = There, I showed you it.
}}
As usual, click the date above the comic to go to the xkcd page, and there is a link to the ''much'' larger (Google Maps-like) version. Go find something interesting, don't worry, the wiki will still be here.

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|980: Money}}
Well, that's why this one is late. It is MASSIVE. This is another [[:Category:Charts|chart]] that [[Randall]] does for xkcd from time to time. He has done [[Online Communities|maps of]] [[Online Communities 2|the Internet]] (twice) and other huge visualizations.

Dollar increments are different colors. Dollar increments are green. (Naturally, because American paper money is green.) Thousands are Orange/Red. Millions are gray. Billions are yellow. Trillions are blue.

In the Billions box there is a vague term called the "Economic Vortex" as well as arrows that flow between different blocks of this box. This is to show where the money goes. Where it is collected from, and where it is distributed to.

The title text is a reference to the phrase "Show me the money!" which originates from the film 'Jerry Maguire'.

;Dollars
*Middle-left: Pet Ownership. The {{w|ASPCA}} is the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
*Bottom-right: Four boxes indicate that the CEO pay has skyrocketed from 490.31 (hourly) to $5,419.97 (hourly) in the same time period in which the average worker's salary has skyrocketed 10 cents.

;Thousands
*Top-right: Hogwarts degree: a reference to {{w|Hogwarts|Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy}} from the popular book series by {{w|J.K. Rowling}} about {{w|Harry Potter}}. One box is the estimated yearly tuition for the school and the next is how much seven years at the school would cost. To get a degree at the school, it takes 7 years (starting at age 11, ending at age 18).
*Bottom: A reference to the song by {{w|Bare Naked Ladies}} entitled "{{w|If I Had $1000000}}" and all the things referenced in the song to buy the love of another person.

;Millions
*Middle-right: another reference to JK Rowling, in this case it is {{w|MC Front-A-Lot}} (The creator of the subgenre of {{w|hip-hop}} known as "{{w|Nerd Core}}") who estimated her net worth at $1 billion. But, that begs the question, why do the boxes only add up to $82,000?

;Billions
*Top-Left: Billionaires section: Fictional Billionaires sub-section:
**{{w|Carlisle Cullen}} is from the {{w|Twilight (series)|Twilight Series}} of books and movies. He is a vampire and adoptive father of {{w|Edward Cullen|Edward}}, {{w|Emmett Cullen|Emmett}} and {{w|Alice Cullen (Twilight)|Alice Cullen}}, as well as {{w|Rosalie Hale|Rosalie}} and {{w|Jasper Hale}}. He was born in the 1640s and amassed his wealth through many years of compound interest and investments.
**{{w|Scrooge McDuck}} is a cartoon character from many {{w|Disney}} properties including the afternoon cartoon, {{w|Duck Tales}}. Scrooge McDuck has a "money bin" full of coins and other sorts of collectibles that he routinely [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMU2NwaaXEA goes swimming in].
**{{w|Bruce Wayne}} is {{w|Batman}}. {{w|Batman}} is {{w|Bruce Wayne}}. He is portrayed in many comic books, graphic novels, TV shows and movies by many different actors.
**{{w|Artemis Fowl II|Artemis Fowl}} is an Irish child prodigy and a ruthless master criminal from the {{w|Artemis Fowl (series)|eponymous book series}}. He uses his intelligence to build his family fortune through crime.

;Trillions
As Randall already indicated in the transcript, this is the block for world, continent and nation finances. The numbers are really huge.
There are no jokes in here (apart from the fact that Randall tried to make the shapes of the GDP look like the continent), likely because financial values this large aren't funny to start with.
* GDP is {{w|Gross domestic product}}, the market value of all goods and services produced in a nation.
** The major chart in the center shows the development of the GDP in the world since the 1940s. So far the US GDP has always grown, except for a small reduction in the early 1980's, a flat line around the 1991 global recession and a flat line in the second half of the naugths. The world-wide GDP is growing more rapidly, but is also much more volatile.
* In the middle of the box, it shows the worth of all gold ever mined in 2011 prices. This is important because of the concept of the {{w|Gold standard}}, a concept where monetary values are linked to the value of gold. As indicated in the top-right of the box, both the EU and the USA have more dept than the total value of gold in the world.
* {{w|Derivatives}} are a complex financial instrument where one is not trading in something tangible, but in derived values - like options. Derivatives thus are dangerous as one trades in concepts instead of values. Critics claim that derivatives are at the base of the 'economic bubble'.
** The growth of the derivatives market size is incredible - more than doubling every four years. The derivates market thus is much larger than the GDP of the entire world.

==Trivia==
*xkcd comics are usually posted at, or around, midnight Eastern time the day of the comic (Monday, Wednesday, Friday). This one was posted at about noon on Monday
*Each amount has a source at http://xkcd.com/980/sources/ In the dollars section there is a statement that at every possible opportunity Randall used a scholarly work or government publication.

==Transcript==
Money

all of it

(this transcription is only reproducing text visible on the front page comic. There are 5 large panels, each with a series of plots, comparing the values of various things.)

*Dollars
**(This section covers single coffees up to the hourly salaries of CEOs)

*Thousands
**(This section discusses values from around $1000 to $1000000, including a dissection of the song ''If I had $1000000'')

*Millions
**(This section focuses on $1000,000 to $1000,000,000, with a large section on campaign contributions of American political presidential campaigns, values of expensive works of art, and J. K. Rowling.)

*Billions
**(This section gets into larger scale finances, profits of various sectors, costs of natural disasters, and net worths of the richest people on the planet. Also, Donald Trump.)

*Trillions
**(Global financial status is described here. It discusses derivatives, liquid assets, public debt by nation and GDP by continent, culminating with the total economic production of the human race to date.)

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Charts]]

980: Money

2013-11-20T20:59:30Z

Kaa-ching: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 980
| date = November 21, 2011
| title = Money
| image = money.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = There, I showed you it.
}}
As usual, click the date above the comic to go to the xkcd page, and there is a link to the ''much'' larger (Google Maps-like) version. Go find something interesting, don't worry, the wiki will still be here.

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|980: Money}}
Well, that's why this one is late. It is MASSIVE. This is another [[:Category:Charts|chart]] that [[Randall]] does for xkcd from time to time. He has done [[Online Communities|maps of]] [[Online Communities 2|the Internet]] (twice) and other huge visualizations.

Dollar increments are different colors. Dollar increments are green. (Naturally, because American paper money is green.) Thousands are Orange/Red. Millions are gray. Billions are yellow. Trillions are blue.

In the Billions box there is a vague term called the "Economic Vortex" as well as arrows that flow between different blocks of this box. This is to show where the money goes. Where it is collected from, and where it is distributed to.

The title text is a reference to the phrase "Show me the money!" which originates from the film 'Jerry Maguire'.

;Dollars
*Middle-left: Pet Ownership. The {{w|ASPCA}} is the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
*Bottom-right: Four boxes indicate that the CEO pay has skyrocketed from 490.31 (hourly) to $5,419.97 (hourly) in the same time period in which the average worker's salary has skyrocketed 10 cents.

;Thousands
*Top-right: Hogwarts degree: a reference to {{w|Hogwarts|Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy}} from the popular book series by {{w|J.K. Rowling}} about {{w|Harry Potter}}. One box is the estimated yearly tuition for the school and the next is how much seven years at the school would cost. To get a degree at the school, it takes 7 years (starting at age 11, ending at age 18).
*Bottom: A reference to the song by {{w|Bare Naked Ladies}} entitled "{{w|If I Had $1000000}}" and all the things referenced in the song to buy the love of another person.

;Millions
*Middle-right: another reference to JK Rowling, in this case it is {{w|MC Front-A-Lot}} (The creator of the subgenre of {{w|hip-hop}} known as "{{w|Nerd Core}}") who estimated her net worth at $1 billion. But, that begs the question, why do the boxes only add up to $82,000?

;Billions
*Top-Left: Billionaires section: Fictional Billionaires sub-section:
**{{w|Carlisle Cullen}} is from the {{w|Twilight (series)|Twilight Series}} of books and movies. He is a vampire and adoptive father of {{w|Edward Cullen|Edward}}, {{w|Emmett Cullen|Emmett}} and {{w|Alice Cullen (Twilight)|Alice Cullen}}, as well as {{w|Rosalie Hale|Rosalie}} and {{w|Jasper Hale}}. He was born in the 1640s and amassed his wealth through many years of compound interest and investments.
**{{w|Scrooge McDuck}} is a cartoon character from many {{w|Disney}} properties including the afternoon cartoon, {{w|Duck Tales}}. Scrooge McDuck has a "money bin" full of coins and other sorts of collectibles that he routinely [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMU2NwaaXEA goes swimming in].
**{{w|Bruce Wayne}} is {{w|Batman}}. {{w|Batman}} is {{w|Bruce Wayne}}. He is portrayed in many comic books, graphic novels, TV shows and movies by many different actors.
**{{w|Artemis Fowl II|Artemis Fowl}} is an Irish child prodigy and a ruthless master criminal from the {{w|Artemis Fowl (series)|eponymous book series}}. He uses his intelligence to build his family fortune through crime.

;Trillions
* In the middle of the box, it shows the worth of all gold ever mined in 2011 prices. This is important because of the concept of the {{w|Gold standard}}, a concept where monetary values are linked to the value of gold. As indicated in the top-right of the box, both the EU and the USA have more dept than the total value of gold in the world.

==Trivia==
*xkcd comics are usually posted at, or around, midnight Eastern time the day of the comic (Monday, Wednesday, Friday). This one was posted at about noon on Monday
*Each amount has a source at http://xkcd.com/980/sources/ In the dollars section there is a statement that at every possible opportunity Randall used a scholarly work or government publication.

==Transcript==
Money

all of it

(this transcription is only reproducing text visible on the front page comic. There are 5 large panels, each with a series of plots, comparing the values of various things.)

*Dollars
**(This section covers single coffees up to the hourly salaries of CEOs)

*Thousands
**(This section discusses values from around $1000 to $1000000, including a dissection of the song ''If I had $1000000'')

*Millions
**(This section focuses on $1000,000 to $1000,000,000, with a large section on campaign contributions of American political presidential campaigns, values of expensive works of art, and J. K. Rowling.)

*Billions
**(This section gets into larger scale finances, profits of various sectors, costs of natural disasters, and net worths of the richest people on the planet. Also, Donald Trump.)

*Trillions
**(Global financial status is described here. It discusses derivatives, liquid assets, public debt by nation and GDP by continent, culminating with the total economic production of the human race to date.)

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Charts]]

Talk:939: Arrow

2013-11-20T20:45:34Z

Kaa-ching:

So there's a machine that dispenses boomerangs when you shoot it. Cool. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:08, 9 March 2013 (UTC)
Don't you know not to link to TVTROPES??? I barely made it out alive! http://xkcd.com/609/
[[Special:Contributions/108.101.176.132|108.101.176.132]] 19:18, 20 July 2013 (UTC)

Did that arrow ever re-appear in a comic?
I presume it will not fly back to Cueball (after all it's not a boomerang), but likely will have hit something... [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 20:45, 20 November 2013 (UTC)

Talk:1290: Syllable Planning

2013-11-13T08:31:34Z

Kaa-ching:

I remember my father telling me when I was a teenager about a scholarly paper that described this exact topic, namely the rules governing where 'fucking' can be injected into multi-syllable words. I still remember discussing the options for "fantastic" and "government". Decades later I had a dream about words like "uninstallable" (which can either mean something that can be uninstalled or something that can't be uninstalled), and discovering that someone had written a paper about that very subject (http://www.hum.au.dk/engelsk/engsv/papers/vikn08b.pdf). [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.127|199.27.128.127]] 06:00, 13 November 2013 (UTC) Toby Ovod-Everett
: Think you mean "... can be uninstalled or .... can't be installed". --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.51.227|173.245.51.227]] 06:42, 13 November 2013 (UTC)
Surely the question is which words benefit from the effing emphasis? Fan-effing-tastic is a natural, but with 'government' I wouldn't try...I'd just say 'effing government (what a bunch of wankers, bastards, mongrels, etc)'.[[User:Anff59|Anff59]] ([[User talk:Anff59|talk]]) 07:37, 13 November 2013 (UTC)

This immediately made me think about "Legen -wait for it- dary", one of the key phrases that 'Barney' uses in {{w|How I Met Your Mother}}. [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 08:31, 13 November 2013 (UTC)

963: X11

2013-10-31T09:00:28Z

Kaa-ching: /* Explanation */ added a bit on the title text, re-inserted the fact that a serious discussion on the title text is missing.

{{comic
| number = 963
| date = October 12, 2011
| title = X11
| image = x11.png
| titletext = Thomas Jefferson thought that every law and every constitution should be torn down and rewritten from scratch every nineteen years--which means X is overdue.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Title text is missing}}
{{w|X_Window_System|X11}} is the X window system (commonly X Window System or X11, based on its current major version being 11).
It is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a basis for graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and rich input device capability for networked computers.

The X11 stacks are usually implemented using a display server. The reason that it is called a display server is that the actual viewer and the server do not need to be on the same system - X11 always runs over a network connection. This adds considerably to the complexity of the mechanism.

Most UNIX-based operating systems, including {{w|Linux}} and the {{w|Berkeley_Software_Distribution|BSDs}} use X11 as their base graphical subsystem and thus always use a display server and a display client.
MacOSX has built-in support for X11, but does not use it for normal applications.
For Windows, commercial and free solutions implementing an X11 display client exist.

Until 2004, for Linux the default display server was {{w|XFree86}}. This project required a variation of the config file that Randall mentions.
It was forked into Xorg due to disagreements over the development model.

Xorg is nowadays the default display server: X.Org Server (commonly abbreviated to Xorg Server, XServer or just Xorg) refers to the X server release packages stewarded by the X.Org Foundation, which is hosted by {{w|freedesktop.org}}, and provides an interface to the standard X Window releases for the use of the free and open source software community.

Every aspect of XFree86 and Xorg can be modified in numerous ways, all the way down to tiny behaviors such as the default window size, window-border snapping, mouse button maps or how a touchpad is used. All of these settings can be found in the xorg.conf file, a massive file with hundreds upon thousands of individual settings that have accumulated over the lifetime of the Xorg project. The [http://www.x.org/archive/X11R6.8.1/doc/xorg.conf.5.html full documentation for xorg.conf] contains all the settings contained within the file. When a problem arises in the graphical portion of a desktop using the X server, the solution is often to edit the xorg.conf file. The soul-crushing prospect of having to open and look up the correct parameter out of thousands that is causing issues is enough to destroy a person's satisfaction with their life.

The {{w|Wayland (display server protocol)|Wayland}} project aims to replace X11 and not include any of the cruft that built up over the decades.
It was started in 2008, way more than 19 years after the aforementioned config file turned into a hell.

==Transcript==
:[The comic is a graph, with the x axis labelled "Time since I last had to open Xorg.conf" and the y axis labelled "General satisfaction with how my life is going". A curve starting at (0,0) snakes toward the upper right of the graph.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Computers]]

963: X11

2013-10-31T08:56:06Z

Kaa-ching: /* Explanation */ beefed up the X11 part considerably

{{comic
| number = 963
| date = October 12, 2011
| title = X11
| image = x11.png
| titletext = Thomas Jefferson thought that every law and every constitution should be torn down and rewritten from scratch every nineteen years--which means X is overdue.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}
{{w|X_Window_System|X11}} is the X window system (commonly X Window System or X11, based on its current major version being 11).
It is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a basis for graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and rich input device capability for networked computers.

The X11 stacks are usually implemented using a display server. The reason that it is called a display server is that the actual viewer and the server do not need to be on the same system - X11 always runs over a network connection. This adds considerably to the complexity of the mechanism.

Most UNIX-based operating systems, including {{w|Linux}} and the {{w|Berkeley_Software_Distribution|BSDs}} use X11 as their base graphical subsystem and thus always use a display server and a display client.
MacOSX has built-in support for X11, but does not use it for normal applications.
For Windows, commercial and free solutions implementing an X11 display client exist.

Until 2004, for Linux the default display server was {{w|XFree86}}. This project required a variation of the config file that Randall mentions.
It was forked into Xorg due to disagreements over the development model.

Xorg is nowadays the default display server: X.Org Server (commonly abbreviated to Xorg Server, XServer or just Xorg) refers to the X server release packages stewarded by the X.Org Foundation, which is hosted by {{w|freedesktop.org}}, and provides an interface to the standard X Window releases for the use of the free and open source software community.

Every aspect of XFree86 and Xorg can be modified in numerous ways, all the way down to tiny behaviors such as the default window size, window-border snapping, mouse button maps or how a touchpad is used. All of these settings can be found in the xorg.conf file, a massive file with hundreds upon thousands of individual settings that have accumulated over the lifetime of the Xorg project. The [http://www.x.org/archive/X11R6.8.1/doc/xorg.conf.5.html full documentation for xorg.conf] contains all the settings contained within the file. When a problem arises in the graphical portion of a desktop using the X server, the solution is often to edit the xorg.conf file. The soul-crushing prospect of having to open and look up the correct parameter out of thousands that is causing issues is enough to destroy a person's satisfaction with their life.

The {{w|Wayland (display server protocol)|Wayland}} project aims to replace X11 and not include any of the cruft that built up over the decades.

==Transcript==
:[The comic is a graph, with the x axis labelled "Time since I last had to open Xorg.conf" and the y axis labelled "General satisfaction with how my life is going". A curve starting at (0,0) snakes toward the upper right of the graph.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Computers]]

Talk:156: Commented

2013-10-31T08:32:11Z

Kaa-ching:

The issue date on this comic isn't filled. Can someone fix that by adding the correct issue date? [[User:Rikthoff|Rikthoff]] ([[User talk:Rikthoff|talk]]) 17:17, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

In the first two panels, it looks like he's flicking the guy off. It's not until the third panel that we actually see the subversion. I'm reasonably certain that this is intentional. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.117|108.162.238.117]] 02:34, 31 October 2013 (UTC)

In QtCreator, comments are dark blue. [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 08:32, 31 October 2013 (UTC)

1283: Headlines

2013-10-28T08:33:21Z

Kaa-ching: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1283
| date = October 28, 2013
| title = Headlines
| image = headlines.png
| titletext = 1916: 'PHYSICIST DAD' TURNS HIS ATTENTION TO GRAVITY, AND YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT HE FINDS. [PICS] [NSFW]
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}
"Getting more clicks" is a common goal in news and blog sites, where more entries mean greater popularity. To achieve that goal, the editor give different articles outrageous headlines, which Randall parodies in this comic. These headlines are designed to make the story sound so unbelievable the reader has to check out the details for himself.

*1905 is when Albert Einstein published his {{w|Annus Mirabilis papers}}, which laid the groundwork for much of modern physics.
*1912 is the year of the the {{w|sinking of the RMS Titanic}}.
*1916 is when {{w|Karl Schwarzschild}} found a solution to Einstein field equations, which describes the gravitational field of a point mass and a spherical mass, more commonly known now as a "{{w|Black hole}}" - thus the humorous reference to Not Safe For Work Pictures.
*1920 is the year that the {{w|Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution}} was passed, guaranteeing voting rights for women in all US states.
*1928 is when {{w|penicillin}} was discovered.
*1929 is a reference to the {{w|Wall Street Crash of 1929}}, the largest stock market crash in history and the beginning of the Great Depression.
*1945 is the year that World War 2 ended. It's also the year that many war crimes committed by Nazi Germany were discovered or declassified.
*1948 is when the Soviet Union established the {{w|Berlin Blockade}}, preventing food and other critical supplies from reaching occupied Berlin. In response, Western forces organized the {{w|Berlin Airlift}}.
*1955 is the year that the {{w|Polio vaccine}} was developed.
*1957 is when the Soviet Union launched {{w|Sputnik 1}}, the world's first artificial satellite.
*1968 is the year that {{w|Martin Luther King Jr.}} and {{w|Robert F. Kennedy}} were both assassinated.
*1969 is the year that {{w|Apollo 11}} performed the first manned lunar landing.
*1986 is when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded one minute into its launch. See {{w|Space Shuttle Challenger disaster}} for details.
*1989 marked the {{w|Fall of the Berlin Wall}}.

The outrageous headlines usually follow a few patterns, including bringing in family relationships and a number in the title.
* [NSFW] is "Not Safe for Work" - a tag to identify that there are (usually) images that you don't want to have on your screen when somebody at work might glance at it over your shoulder.
* [GIFS] indicates that the post will contain an animated GIF image - a crude form of short video
* [PICS] tells the potential viewer that there are images embedded
* [video] indicates a link to a video

==Transcript==
:20th Century Headlines
:Rewritten to get more clicks

:1905 - How a shocking new theory, discovered by a dad, proves scientists are wrong about ''everything!''
:1912 - 6 ''Titanic'' survivors who should have died
:1920 - 17 things that will be outlawed now that women can vote
:1928 - This one weird mold kills all germs
:1929 - Most embarrassing reactions to the stock market crash [GIFS]
:1945 - These 9 Nazi atrocities will make you lose faith in humanity
:1948 - 5 insane plans for feeding West Berlin you won't believe are real
:1955 - Avoid Polio with this one weird trick
:1957 - 12 nip slips potentially visible to Sputnik
:1968 - This year's assassinations ranked from most to least tragic
:1969 - This is the most important photo of an astronaut you'll see all day
:1986 - This video of a terminally ill child watching the ''Challenger'' launch will break your heart
:1989 - You won't ''believe'' what these people did to the Berlin wall! [video]
:Jan 1, 1990 - 500 signs you're a 90s kid

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Language]]

1283: Headlines

2013-10-28T08:31:41Z

Kaa-ching: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1283
| date = October 28, 2013
| title = Headlines
| image = headlines.png
| titletext = 1916: 'PHYSICIST DAD' TURNS HIS ATTENTION TO GRAVITY, AND YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT HE FINDS. [PICS] [NSFW]
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}
"Getting more clicks" is a common goal in news and blog sites, where more entries mean greater popularity. To achieve that goal, the editor give different articles outrageous headlines, which Randall parodies in this comic. These headlines are designed to make the story sound so unbelievable the reader has to check out the details for himself.

The outrageous headlines usually follow a few patterns, including bringing in family relationships and a number in the title.
NSFW is "Not Safe for Work" - a tag to identify that there are (usually) images that you don't want to have on your screen when somebody at work might glance at it over your shoulder.

*1905 is when Albert Einstein published his {{w|Annus Mirabilis papers}}, which laid the groundwork for much of modern physics.
*1912 is the year of the the {{w|sinking of the RMS Titanic}}.
*1916 is when {{w|Karl Schwarzschild}} found a solution to Einstein field equations, which describes the gravitational field of a point mass and a spherical mass, more commonly known now as a "{{w|Black hole}}" - thus the humorous reference to Not Safe For Work Pictures.
*1920 is the year that the {{w|Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution}} was passed, guaranteeing voting rights for women in all US states.
*1928 is when {{w|penicillin}} was discovered.
*1929 is a reference to the {{w|Wall Street Crash of 1929}}, the largest stock market crash in history and the beginning of the Great Depression.
*1945 is the year that World War 2 ended. It's also the year that many war crimes committed by Nazi Germany were discovered or declassified.
*1948 is when the Soviet Union established the {{w|Berlin Blockade}}, preventing food and other critical supplies from reaching occupied Berlin. In response, Western forces organized the {{w|Berlin Airlift}}.
*1955 is the year that the {{w|Polio vaccine}} was developed.
*1957 is when the Soviet Union launched {{w|Sputnik 1}}, the world's first artificial satellite.
*1968 is the year that {{w|Martin Luther King Jr.}} and {{w|Robert F. Kennedy}} were both assassinated.
*1969 is the year that {{w|Apollo 11}} performed the first manned lunar landing.
*1986 is when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded one minute into its launch. See {{w|Space Shuttle Challenger disaster}} for details.
*1989 marked the {{w|Fall of the Berlin Wall}}.

==Transcript==
:20th Century Headlines
:Rewritten to get more clicks

:1905 - How a shocking new theory, discovered by a dad, proves scientists are wrong about ''everything!''
:1912 - 6 ''Titanic'' survivors who should have died
:1920 - 17 things that will be outlawed now that women can vote
:1928 - This one weird mold kills all germs
:1929 - Most embarrassing reactions to the stock market crash [GIFS]
:1945 - These 9 Nazi atrocities will make you lose faith in humanity
:1948 - 5 insane plans for feeding West Berlin you won't believe are real
:1955 - Avoid Polio with this one weird trick
:1957 - 12 nip slips potentially visible to Sputnik
:1968 - This year's assassinations ranked from most to least tragic
:1969 - This is the most important photo of an astronaut you'll see all day
:1986 - This video of a terminally ill child watching the ''Challenger'' launch will break your heart
:1989 - You won't ''believe'' what these people did to the Berlin wall! [video]
:Jan 1, 1990 - 500 signs you're a 90s kid

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Language]]

1281: Minifigs

2013-10-23T08:40:12Z

Kaa-ching: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1281
| date = October 23, 2013
| title = Minifigs
| image = minifigs.png
| titletext = The LEGO Group is already the world's largest tire manufacturer.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}
In this comic, Randall uses a graphic extrapolation to guess the point in time in which people will be outnumbered by {{w|Lego Minifigures (theme)|Lego people}} (little toys designed to look like simplified humans by the Lego company, known as 'minifigs' or 'minifigures'). Unlike [[605|previous comics]] that use statistical extrapolation, this one doesn't present its comic relief on a ludicrous use of it but rather on a ludicrous and very likely consequence.
Obviously, there is no ramification if there are more Lego minifigs than humans on the world.

Title text is referring to that all {{w|Lego}} vehicles have tiny wheels - all with tires manufactured by Lego. If counted by number of tires produced, {{w|Lego tire|Lego is the largest manufacturer of tires in the world}}.

==Transcript==
:[Graph: X-axis, 1980, 1990, 2010, 2020; Y-axis 8 Billion]
:[Plot-line 1: Number of people in the world. Plot-line 2: Number of Lego People in the world. Label on Line from X-axis reads "Today."]

:By 2019, Humans will be outnumbered.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]

1281: Minifigs

2013-10-23T08:39:08Z

Kaa-ching: /* Explanation */ adding reference to backup the title text

{{comic
| number = 1281
| date = October 23, 2013
| title = Minifigs
| image = minifigs.png
| titletext = The LEGO Group is already the world's largest tire manufacturer.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}
In this comic, Randall uses a graphic extrapolation to guess the point in time in which people will be outnumbered by {{w|Lego Minifigures (theme)|Lego people}} (little toys designed to look like simplified humans by the Lego company, known as 'minifigs' or 'minifigures'). Unlike [[605|previous comics]] that use statistical extrapolation, this one doesn't present its comic relief on a ludicrous use of it but rather on a ludicrous and very likely consequence.

Title text is referring to that all {{w|Lego}} vehicles have tiny wheels - all with tires manufactured by Lego. If counted by number of tires produced, {{w|Lego tire|Lego is the largest manufacturer of tires in the world}}.

==Transcript==
:[Graph: X-axis, 1980, 1990, 2010, 2020; Y-axis 8 Billion]
:[Plot-line 1: Number of people in the world. Plot-line 2: Number of Lego People in the world. Label on Line from X-axis reads "Today."]

:By 2019, Humans will be outnumbered.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]

875: 2009 Called

2013-10-11T11:42:30Z

Kaa-ching: Removing the incomplete flag, I believe there are no open issues.

{{comic
| number = 875
| date = March 21, 2011
| title = 2009 Called
| image = 2009 called.png
| titletext = 2017 called, but I couldn't understand what they were saying over all the screams.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic deconstructs a {{w|snowclone}} or common idiom - "X called, they want their Y back." Usually, X is a year (like 2009 here), and Y is something very popular in that year that is seen as ridiculous in the present day.

Here, [[Megan]] notices a Three-Wolf Moon t-shirt that [[Cueball]] apparently owns. The {{w|Three Wolf Moon|Three-Wolf Moon}} is a shirt of three wolves howling at the moon that reached meme status when several people posted ironic reviews giving it supernatural powers on {{w|Amazon}} around late 2008.

Megan says the snowclone, but before she can finish, Cueball takes it literally (that is, that the year 2009 actually called her) and admonishes for not telling them about {{w|2010 Haiti earthquake|the February 2010 earthquake in Haiti}} and {{w|2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami|the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan}}. The comic was posted shortly after the latter, so it is reasonable to assume that it was created as a response to the disaster.

The title text continues the snowclone, implying the end of humanity and/or the world will come about in 2017.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is at computer. Megan is standing behind him, looking at clothes on the floor.]
:Megan: Is this a three wolf moon shirt?
:Megan: Dude, 2009 called, and they--
:Cueball: ''OH MY GOD!''
:Cueball: ''DID YOU WARN THEM?''
:Cueball: ''ABOUT HAITI AND JAPAN?''
:Megan: What? No, I--
:Cueball: You ''ASSHOLE!''

==See also==
*[[102: Back to the Future]]
*[[1072: Seventies]]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

Talk:1276: Angular Size

2013-10-11T11:35:18Z

Kaa-ching:

What is the meaning of "football field" in panel #2? --[[User:Kevang|Kevang]] ([[User talk:Kevang|talk]]) 04:50, 11 October 2013 (UTC)
:I was wondering the same thing. Probably misplaced text. [[User:Irino.|Irino.]] ([[User talk:Irino.|talk]]) 05:49, 11 October 2013 (UTC)
::It does seem to be misplaced, but if that's the only glitch, this is the only panel without a unique reference object. "20 football pitches long" isn't all that easy to grasp. [[User:Jameslucas|jameslucas]] ([[User talk:Jameslucas|" "]] / [[Special:Contributions/Jameslucas|+]]) 09:09, 11 October 2013 (UTC)
:::The image is fixed by Randall. I did an update here.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:28, 11 October 2013 (UTC)

I haven't done any lookups or maths to check these, but give the size of these as "stars" in the sky, everything from panel 2 onwards seems to me to be an order of magnitude or two too large. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 05:17, 11 October 2013 (UTC)
: Not really. You see the stars and planets as points because their angular size is lower than your eyes' resolution. They have measurable (or, in case of really distant or small objects, computable) angular sizes. For stars etc. these angular sizes are really small - but Earth is quite big, so if you cut a portion of a sphere the radius of Earth corresponding to these small solid angles, you get sizable areas. I haven't checked Randall's math, but I'd rather believe his results. If it is non-intuitive for you consider the Sun and Moon example - when observed by naked eye, the Moon looks for you as being the size of a dime held up in your hand - and yet it's shadow during an eclipse covers quite an area of Earth's surface. It is true that sizes of some of these "footprints" are quite surprising compared to other ones. [[Special:Contributions/89.174.214.74|89.174.214.74]] 08:55, 11 October 2013 (UTC)

Does someone know how to use LaTeX formulas? And if so, can they translate my formula into something more pleasing to the eye? [[User:Irino.|Irino.]] ([[User talk:Irino.|talk]]) 05:49, 11 October 2013 (UTC)

According to the wikipedia page, the M25 is 117 miles long. That sounds more like "37 miles across" to me. [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 08:46, 11 October 2013 (UTC)
: it originally stated 15 miles, someone has fixed it now. Thanks! [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 11:35, 11 October 2013 (UTC)

Neither the sun or moon, nor Messier 25 (declination -19°) can ever culminate in the zenith over London. :-( Admittedly, Townsville, Australia would be sort of overwhelmed by M25. --[[Special:Contributions/129.13.72.198|129.13.72.198]] 11:27, 11 October 2013 (UTC)

Does anyone know why the exoplanet "HD 189733 b" is labled as "Permadeath" ? [[User:Jahvascriptmaniac|Jahvascriptmaniac]] ([[User talk:Jahvascriptmaniac|talk]]) 11:32, 11 October 2013 (UTC)

Talk:1276: Angular Size

2013-10-11T08:46:44Z

Kaa-ching: add comment

1249: Meteor Showers

2013-08-10T07:12:30Z

Kaa-ching: added category tags for Velociraptors and Jurassic Park

{{comic
| number = 1249
| date = August 9, 2013
| title = Meteor Showers
| image = meteor showers.png
| titletext = Remember, meteors always hit the tallest object around.
}}

This comic spoofs the way that astronomical events are often reported in the mass media — events are often tagged with undeserved superlatives or described as being more dramatic than they actually are. In some cases, outright misinformation is spread. This phenomenon occurs in part the result of over-eager scientists, and in part because of journalists misunderstanding the subject.

Meteor showers, for example, typically occur regularly each year. Sometimes meteor showers are in fact likely to be relatively spectacular - for example when the peak of the shower occurs when your part of the world is in darkness and there is little moonlight. However, even in these cases it must be understood that there is nothing unusual about the meteor shower itself.

Most of the meteor showers listed in the comic are real, but some are made up (see below).

*({{w|Quadrantids|real}}) Quadrantids - January 4th - Bring pets inside during peak activity
:While keeping pets inside may be reasonable in a snowstorm or hurricane, no regular meteor shower poses much danger to pets.
*(made-up) Tricuspids - January 21st - Not viewable in region 2 countries
:Apparently a play on the {{w|tricuspid valve}} in mammalian hearts, or possibly on bicuspid teeth. The mention of "Region 2" is a reference to {{w|region locking}}, a digital rights management (DRM) scheme intended to restrict media to certain areas. DRM of course does not apply to natural events. But ironically, meteor showers are also geographically restricted, and the visible area might roughly coincide with a DRM region. Further irony is that "Region 2" is actually Europe, Middle East, Egypt, Japan, South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Greenland, French Overseas departments and territories, meaning that it's not strictly geographical.
*([http://meteorshowersonline.com/showers/alpha-beta_centaurids.html real]) Centaurids - February 6th - Too faint to see without going outside
:Since most houses have opaque roofs, it would take a ''very'' bright meteor to be visible without going outside.
*(made-up) Beta Aquariids - February 10th - Inverted shower converges toward Aquarius instead of radiating away.
:This fictional shower would collect shooting stars into the origin to prepare for the real {{w|Eta Aquariids}} meteor shower associated with Haley's comet and ''diverging'' from {{w|Eta Aquarii}} in Aquarius; the real shower peaks around May 6th.
:Due to the geometry of gravity and perspective, meteor showers appear to radiate outwards from a certain point in the sky. Meteor showers may be seen to converge on a point on the opposite side of the sky, but so few meteoroids enter the atmosphere there that it would hardly be notable.
*(made-up) Chelyabids - February 15th - Only one meteor per shower, but it's big.
:A reference to the February 15, 2013, {{w|Chelyabinsk meteor}} whose explosion shattered windows within a large radius.
*({{w|Lyrids|real}}) Lyrids - April 22nd - Meteors sometimes scream
*({{w|Zeta Perseids|real}}) Daytime Zeta Perseids - June 9th - Likely a NASA hoax
:This shower is likely too faint or infrequent for most people to see, and therefore of disputed existence by the overly skeptical.
*({{w|June Bootids|real}}) June Boötids - June 27th - 50/50 mix of meteors and shooting stars
:The "50/50 mix of meteors and shooting stars" is a joke, as "meteor" and "shooting star" are synonymous.
*({{w|Southern Delta Aquariids|real}}) Southern Delta Aquariids - July 19th - Meteors very bright, but stationary
:This is saying that they are indistinguishable from stars, or that the stars themselves are actually meteors.
*(made-up) Dromaeosaurids - July 22nd - Fast, highly intelligent, can open doors
:Dromaeosaurids are dinosaurs belonging to {{w|Dromaeosauridae}}, the family containing the genus ''Velociraptor'', well-known from the movie Jurassic Park, and a [[:Category:Velociraptors|popular xkcd-theme]]. When the comic was originally published, the date listed for this shower was June 12th. The main events of Jurassic Park take place on June 11th and 12th.
*({{w|Perseids|real}}) Perseids - August 12th - Instead of falling from sky, meteors erupt from ground
*(made-up) Tau Pyramids - August 15th - Visible even when eyes are closed
:Probably a reference to {{w|Pyramidal cells}}, a type of neuron in the brain that is linked to cognition. The "tau" reference has two possibilities. The "visible even when eyes are closed" could refer to the Tau particle, a heavy sibling of the electron. When they traveled outside of Earth's magnetosphere on their way to the Moon, Apollo astronauts saw flashes of light about every three minutes even with their eyes closed; these were caused by high energy particles (cosmic rays) penetrating their eyes and brain. The other possibility is that it refers to {{w|Tau protein}}, a normal structural protein within brain neurons. In Alzheimer's Disease, abnormal Tau proteins can aggregate within pyramidal cells to form insoluble skeins. The number of these "{{w|Neurofibrillary tangle|neurofibrillary tangles}}" roughly correlate with the severity of cognitive impairment.
*({{w|Draconids|real}}) Draconids - October 8th - Very slow, but follow you if you run
*({{w|Orionids|real}}) Orionids - October 21st - Entire shower happens at once
:As noted in comic [http://xkcd.com/1020/ 1020], the Orion constellation has a 'dong'. Possibly a joke about a "golden" shower. Maybe.
*({{w|Leonids|real}}) Leonids - November 17th - In 1966, unusually active Leonid shower killed God
:There ''was'' a very active Leonid shower. However, it occurred several months after the article ''{{w|Is God Dead?}}'' published in ''Time Magazine'' that year.
*({{w|Geminids|real}}) Geminids - December 13th - Can be deflected with tennis rackets

The title text refers to the folk wisdom that ''lightning'' strikes the tallest thing around. [[Randall]] expressed frustration over how "maddeningly inexact" that statement is, and elaborated on the problem mathematically, on his ''[[what if?]]'' blog, in the [http://what-if.xkcd.com/16/ post on lightning].

==Transcript==
:The xkcd guide to meteor showers
[There is a three-column table]
:; Name - Peak - Notes
:Quadrantids - January 4th - Bring pets inside during peak activity
:Tricuspids - January 21st - Not viewable in region 2 countries
:Centaurids - February 6th - Too faint to see without going outside
:Beta Aquariids - February 10th - Inverted shower converges toward Aquarius instead of radiating away
:Chelyabids - February 15th - Only one meteor per shower, but it's big.
:Lyrids - April 22nd - Meteors sometimes scream
:Daytime Zeta Perseids - June 9th - Likely a NASA hoax
:June Boötids - June 27th - 50/50 mix of meteors and shooting stars
:Southern Delta Aquariids - July 19th - Meteors very bright, but stationary
:Dromaeosaurids - July 22th - Fast, highly intelligent, can open doors
:Perseids - August 12th - Instead of falling from sky, meteors erupt from ground
:Tau Pyramids - August 15th - Visible even when eyes are closed
:Draconids - October 8th - Very slow, but follow you if you run
:Orionids - October 21st - Entire shower happens at once
:Leonids - November 17th - In 1966, unusually active Leonid shower killed God
:Geminids - December 13th - Can be deflected with tennis rackets

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Jurassic Park]]

1247: The Mother of All Suspicious Files

2013-08-06T07:21:32Z

Kaa-ching: added a __ hint

{{comic
| number = 1247
| date = August 5, 2013
| title = The Mother of All Suspicious Files
| image = the_mother_of_all_suspicious_files.png
| titletext = Better change the URL to 'https' before downloading.
}}

==Explanation==
The save dialogue shows a download from [http://www.utrace.de/?query=65.222.202.53 65.222.202.53] with a very long file title. Many of the extensions used inside there indicate executable code. You also see common download syntax for a pirated movie, {{w|Hackers (film)|Hackers}}, likely included to appear malicious to anyone skimming but is actually a movie about hackers, making it a benign reference rather than malicious.

The {{w|URL}} contains the path "~tilde/pub/cia-bin/etc". The first part is a public folder of a user named tilde (which is also the name for the ~ symbol), "cgi-bin" is a common folder on a Web-Server for server side executables ([[Randall]] jokes with the name), and "etc" is a standard folder for configuration files - normally never accessible through a webserver. The program "init.dll" isn't executable at all, it's a {{w|Windows Dynamic Link Library}} which can't be run standalone, and is rarely referenced in URLs (even though such syntax is still being employed, even on [https://www.google.com/search?q=site:edu+filetype:dll reputable websites]). The question mark indicates the start of a parameter list, in this case we have only one named "FILE".

The "Save" button is disabled, you still only can click the "Cancel" button. Many browsers(Internet Explorer and Firefox) will leave "Save" greyed out for a small period of time to force you to review the prompt, and prevent accidentally clicking a download popped up without direct request, but usually only a couple of seconds. The fact it is greyed out may indicate the user may still make a flash decision on this nearly indecipherable download.

The content of the parameter is shown here:
* __ (underscore underscore) - used in the C programming language to denote that a symbol is really not for public consumption
* {{w|AUTOEXEC.BAT}} - a file which is automatically run during startup on Windows/DOS operating systems.
* MY%20OSX%20DOCUMENTS - referencing the {{w|OSX}} operating system ({{w|URL_encoding#Character_data|%20}} is a representation of a space in a URL, i.e. it reads as "MY OSX DOCUMENTS").
* INSTALL.EXE - a typical {{w|Installer#Installer|installer}}
* {{w|RAR}} - a compressed archive file type
* {{w|INI_file|INI}} - a configuration file type
* {{w|Tar_(computing)|TAR}} - a file archive popular in UNIX and UNIX-like operating systems. TAR has been mentioned [[1168:_tar|before]].
* DOÇX - {{w|docx}} is an Office Open XML file, i.e. a word processing format used by Microsoft Word 2007 and above, but has no cedilla (¸)
* PHPHPHP - a play on {{w|PHP}} files, a kind of server-based web page file type. PHP is a recursive abbreviation ("PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor")
* {{w|XHTML}} - another web page file type
* TML - stands for Transducer Markup Language, an XML based markup language that specifies how to capture, time-tag and describe sensor data
* XTL - another play on {{w|XHTML}}?
* TXXT - a play on {{w|Text_file|TXT}} file types
* 0DAY - a reference to a {{w|zero-day exploit}}
* HACK.ERS_(1995)_BLURAY_CAM-XVID - a reference to the 1995 Hackers movie, but pirated movies would either be a BlurayRIP/DVDRIP or CAM, but not both at the same time unless you used a camera to recored the Blueray movie as it played?
* {{w|EXE}} - an executable file type used by Microsoft Windows
* [SCR] - a tag used by movie pirates to denote a 'Screener', the DVD copy of films given to critics prior to theater relase. Usually the highest quality available at this time, rare, and therefor good bait for a virus laden download
* {{w|Lisp (programming language)|LISP}} - programming language
* {{w|Windows_Installer|MSI}} - an installation file used by Microsoft Installer
* {{w|.lnk|LNK}} - an extension used by Microsoft Windows for shortcuts. The extension is normally hidden to the user.
* LNK, ZDA, GNN - references to {{w|Link_(The_Legend_of_Zelda)|Link}}, {{w|Princess_Zelda|Zelda}}, and {{w|Ganon|Ganon}}, important characters from {{w|The_Legend_of_Zelda|The Legend of Zelda}} video game franchise
* {{w|White_Rabbit#Television_and_films|WRBT OBJ}} - A reference to the line of code Dennis Nedry used in {{w|Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park}} to shut down key systems
* {{w|Object_file|O}} - The extension for a linker file, an intermediary created when compiling C code.
* {{w|Header_file|H}} - The file extension of a header file in C code.
* {{w|SWF}} - Shockwave Flash file type
* {{w|Dpkg|DPKG}} - The Debian package management, although the package files use the file suffix ".deb"
* APP - an application on Mac OS X operating system
* {{w|ZIP_%28file_format%29|ZIP}} - compressed archive file type
* CO - looks like a {{w|List_of_Internet_top-level_domains|top-level domain}}. Many countries use .co.''tld'' in front of their main TLD, e.g. ''.co.uk''. ''.co.gz'' doesn't exist.
* {{w|Gzip|GZ}} - a compressed file using GNU zip
* {{w|A.out|A.OUT}} - Default filename when creating an executable on Linux or other UNIX-like operating systems if none was specified for the compiler.

The title text suggests changing from http to https, as if encrypting a suspicious file before downloading it is somehow better than downloading it unencrypted. http (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) and https (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol - Secure) are the two common protocols for getting web pages and web downloads. http is the simple download, whereas https adds an SSL encryption layer so the item being downloaded cannot be viewed unencrypted by anyone except the end recipient. Changing "http" to "https" is a common suggestion to improve security when browsing the web from an insecure network (such as a public wifi hotspot) to avoid surveillance or hijacking to a malicious website; Google automatically switches to https for all mail accounts and is starting to do so with searches. The end recipient will still get whatever nasties were in the original, however - encrypting it doesn't change the content at all.

The IP address referenced in the comic, 65.222.202.53, is currently being used by the shellcode of a Javascript 0-day exploit for the Tor Browser Bundle being run by the FBI to phone home over the clearnet and de-anonymize visitors to websites on Freedom Hosting that are serving child pornography. [http://www.reddit.com/r/onions/comments/1jmrta/founder_of_the_freedom_hosting_arrested_held/]

==Transcript==
:[A save dialogue popup with an alert sign.]
:Warning!
:This type of file can harm your computer! Are your sure you want to download: <nowiki>http://65.222.202.53/~TILDE/PUB/CIA-BIN/ETC/INIT.DLL?FILE=__AUTOEXEC.BAT.MY%20OSX%20DOCUMENTS-INSTALL.EXE.RAR.INI.TAR.DOÇX.PHPHPHP.XHTML.TML.XTL.TXXT.0DAY.HACK.ERS_(1995)_BLURAY_CAM-XVID.EXE.TAR.[SCR].LISP.MSI.LNK.ZDA.GNN.WRBT.OBJ.O.H.SWF.DPKG.APP.ZIP.TAR.TAR.CO.GZ.A.OUT.EXE</nowiki>

:[Two buttons:]
:Cancel Save

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Computers]]

Talk:1232: Realistic Criteria

2013-07-01T07:29:09Z

Kaa-ching:

I'm not sure I want NASA (or other space agencies) to solve all problems on earth. And what constitutes a problem? My laptop crashed this morning? Fighting in Afghanistan? Flooding in Germany and Poland? [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 07:28, 1 July 2013 (UTC)

Hence the title: "Realistic Criteria" ;-) [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 07:29, 1 July 2013 (UTC)

Talk:1232: Realistic Criteria

2013-07-01T07:28:20Z

Kaa-ching: Created page with "I'm not sure I want NASA (or other space agencies) to solve all problems on earth. And what constitutes a problem? My laptop crashed this morning? Fighting in Afghanistan? Flo..."

Talk:1212: Interstellar Memes

2013-05-15T08:41:06Z

Kaa-ching:

I'm surprised ponies didn't make the list given how massively and completely they took over the Internet in recent years. Then again, xkcd hasn't made any mention of the phenomenon, which is pretty nice, I guess. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 04:35, 15 May 2013 (UTC)
:Given that the closest one, "I'm on a boat," predates the first episode of MLP:FiM by more than a year (the brony phenomenon by even more), it's safe to say that ponies have not reached the nearest star yet. --[[Special:Contributions/24.145.230.202|24.145.230.202]] 04:42, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

It would be great to have the distances (in light years) of the stars as a fourth column. This would also provide a chronological order. --[[Special:Contributions/84.75.61.103|84.75.61.103]] 08:06, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

If I look at the page source, there is no transcript this time... [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 08:41, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

657: Movie Narrative Charts

2013-04-23T12:29:15Z

Kaa-ching: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 657
| date = November 2, 2009
| title = Movie Narrative Charts
| image = movie_narrative_charts.png
| titletext = In the LotR map, up and down correspond LOOSELY to northwest and southeast respectively.
}}

==Explanation==
The transcript (see below) already explains most of it.

The movies referenced are (links go to Wikipedia):
*{{w|Lord_of_the_Rings_film_trilogy|Lord of the Rings Trilogy}}
*{{w|Star_Wars|Star Wars}} (original Trilogy)
*{{w|Jurassic_Park_(film)|Jurassic Park}}
*{{w|Twelve_Angry_Men_(disambiguation)|12 Angry Men}} (there are two movies "12 Angry Men" on the same topic)
*{{w|Primer_(film)|Primer}}

If you click on the chart on the original XKCD page, you'll get a [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/movie_narrative_charts_large.png large (3274x2064 pixels) image].

The joke in 12 Angry men graphic is that in the movie all 12 jurors are all in the same room the entire movie. They never move and they all always interact with each other, hence their lines stay straight and close to each other.

The last box is a movie called Primer from 2004, which became a cult classic. It is about accidentally discovering time travel. The plot is so convoluted and mixed up with the time travel between the original person and the so-called time travelling "double" that it is almost impossible to figure out where each character is at one time, as the comic illustrates.

These charts are a reference to the map by infographic pioneer {{w|Charles Joseph Minard}} that details the movements and losses of Napoleon's troops on his failed conquest of Russia.

==Transcript==
:These charts show movie character interactions. The horizontal axis is time. The vertical grouping of the lines indicates which characters are together at a given time.
:Lord of the Rings: A mass of colored lines weaves back and forth across the chart, representing various characters. Sauron is represented by a huge black bar at the bottom with branches for nazgul, orcs, etc. Major locations (Moria) and plot points (the breaking of the fellowship) are marked. Gandalf, especially at the beginning, jumps all over the map in a short time. Eagles appear and then disappear a couple of times. Treebeard's line is flat except for the march to Isengard. At the end, the ship to the West drifts off into a corner.
:Star Wars (original trilogy): This chart is simpler. Luke, mostly accompanied by R2-D2, joins and parts from other sets of characters. There's a dotted alternative path on Jabba's line for the special edition. Yoda appears about halfway through (where Luke's Jedi training is marked). All the surviving lines group up at Endor except for Vader, the Emperor, Luke, and Lando; after the climactic duel, the latter two join the rest.
:Jurassic Park: The human characters are in black; dinosaurs are in red. Dilophosaurus appears briefly to eat Nedry and then fades out again. The three raptors are together at the beginning, but split up about halfway through. One has a dotted portion of line between "locked up" and "escapes." In the meantime, they cut off the lines of Arnold and Muldoon. The raptor lines all end when t-rex's swoops down to meet them at the end, and all the surviving humans leave together.
:12 Angry Men: The lines are labeled Juror 1 through Juror 12. They are all perfectly horizontal and parallel.
:Primer: Three lines start on the left labeled Abe, Aaron, and Granger. They enter a mass of scribbling. Somewhere vaguely towards the end, three lines emerge and fade out, all labeled with question marks.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:LOTR]]
[[Category:Jurassic Park]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Charts]]

Talk:1198: Geologist

2013-04-12T08:14:52Z

Kaa-ching:

The title text sounds a bit like a movie reference. Did anyone catch it? --[[User:Koveras|Koveras]] ([[User talk:Koveras|talk]]) 07:53, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

I was thinking a zombie reference? [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 08:14, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

Talk:1196: Subways

2013-04-08T15:44:27Z

Kaa-ching: /* Sunnydale */ new section

I think the comic is making fun of the ridiculous scale-inaccuracies found in public transport plans, including subway plans, which make it hard to estimate actual distances and travel times. {{unsigned|‎130.60.152.125}}

I think it's deffently a factor. <that one editor who always forgets to login>

What does it mean "(with respect to geography)"? As a non US citizen I don't know what is odd about this map. Is this actually how the lines connect up? Are these real stations/lines? Can you really go from san fransisco to new york on subway? {{unsigned|31.221.13.140}}
:Of course not. These are all different subway systems, only connected on this map because their official individual maps use the same colors for different lines. I expect this explanation will be updated to list all the different systems seen here, including Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and the New York Subway. [[Special:Contributions/75.37.205.50|75.37.205.50]] 09:30, 8 April 2013 (UTC)
::"I expect this explanation will be updated to list all the different systems seen here" As a New Yorker, I can say that while most of the map is quite accurate, some lines cannot be named because each color belongs to multiple lines (with some exceptions) and Randall has taken some serious liberties at the connections to other systems. (E.g. there is no blue line with one end in Hoboken and the other end at 34th Street, as shown on this map) [[User:Bdemirci|Bdemirci]] ([[User talk:Bdemirci|talk]]) 12:17, 8 April 2013 (UTC) EDIT: That blue line might be part of the NJ Transit, but including a New Jersey line in with the Subway is quite heretical. [[User:Bdemirci|Bdemirci]] ([[User talk:Bdemirci|talk]]) 12:25, 8 April 2013 (UTC)
:::That blue line is part of PATH, a subway between NJ and NYC. It's not part of NJ Transit; it's run by the Port Authority, an agency created by a bi-state compact between NY and NJ. And its official map does indeed use blue for the line from hoboken to 33rd street. [[Special:Contributions/66.202.132.250|66.202.132.250]] 13:57, 8 April 2013 (UTC)
:Also, the comic is using an extremely loose definition of "subway". (Chicago and Cleveland, for example, do not have anything that would fit a normal, dictionary definition of the word. And no, what they do have is certainly not connected in any case -- unless you count highways, in which case the map is ridiculously incomplete.) [[User:Jonadab|Jonadab]] ([[User talk:Jonadab|talk]]) 11:17, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

:It's often hard to realize the distances involved when one is talking about a country or region one is unfamiliar with. In the case of North America, and this semi-fictitious subway system, the distances between the furthest points is about 3,000 miles (about 5,000km); it would generally take about 2 days of highway driving, with no stops, to get from any one end to the opposite other. Randall took real subway maps from different cities, already not to scale, and fictitiously joined them together as if the cities were right next door to each other and really connected. They are not. In most cases, you have to fly, drive, take a bus, or take a regular (non-subway) train if you wanted to go from one city's subway system to another's. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 14:47, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

Hmmm, there is no mention of the 7 or so underground stations in Edmonton, Canada. It is classified as light rail as opposed to heavy rail but still meets the "pedantic rail enthusiasts" definition included under the comic.
Quote: For the pedantic rail enthusiasts, the definition of a subway used here is, with some caveats, "a network containing high capacity grade-separated passenger rail transit lines which run frequently, serve an urban core, and are underground or elevated for at least part of their downtown route." For the rest of you, the definition is "a bunch of trains under a city.[[Special:Contributions/220.239.66.60|220.239.66.60]] 10:10, 8 April 2013 (UTC)
:I suspect the Edmonton, Alberta system got left out for the same reason as the (similarly sized) Buffalo, NY system got left out. The Buffalo system consists of a single line connecting a dozen or so stations below ground and about 5-6 above ground. It fits the "pedantic rail enthusiasts" definition, with the possible exception of being a "network". But more importantly, since it is a single line, I don't think they color-coded it. Without a color-code, where would it hook into Randal's map? [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 14:14, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

I don't know the other cities' subway maps well enough, but the NYC map has several jokes in it. The "G" line is listed as having "Random service", which is pretty accurate (it's extremely unreliable). The blue and orange lines in Jamaica (a former independent city now part of the boro of Queens) are listed as coming together in "Kingston", which not in NYC, it's the capital of the island nation of Jamaica. There is a fictional "Puerto Rico Submarine" listed as a complement to the real Staten Island Ferry. The (non-existent) connection from Staten Island NY to DC is listed as the "Robert Moses High speed line", in other words, a freeway such as Robert Moses was known for (presumably I-95, although Moses had nothing to do with that). [[Special:Contributions/66.202.132.250|66.202.132.250]] 13:57, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

Looks like Randall goofed with one of his jokes. West Trenton is one of the final stops on one of Philadelphia's passenger rail lines (SEPTA). SEPTA isn't really a subway as it's only underground in the city center. But he happened to draw it in the "Cleveland" area of the map, and ended up connecting it to Boston's Cleveland Circle. That doesn't make sense since there's no west trenton in Cleveland. [[Special:Contributions/66.202.132.250|66.202.132.250]] 13:57, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

Good couple of jokes in the Boston area: 1) The real station of Braintree is accompanied by the fictional stations of Bonevine and Skinflower; 2) Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line has conveniently become Ashmont-Manhattan High Speed Line; 3) The Green Line extension currently under development has been rerouted to Canada; 4) The Cleveland Circle Station has become the departure point for the shuttle to Cleveland. [[Special:Contributions/209.6.46.147|209.6.46.147]] 14:26, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

In Montreal, the Longueuil station is misspelled as "Longueil". --[[User:Prooffreader|Prooffreader]] ([[User talk:Prooffreader|talk]]) 15:32, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

== Sunnydale ==

I wasn't aware of a town called Sunnydale in the USA.
However, whilst researching whether this was a pun to the Buffy Television series it turned out the metro station named Sunnydale actually exists: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunnydale_Avenue_Station ...
[[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 15:44, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

1189: Voyager 1

2013-03-22T09:15:12Z

Kaa-ching: fix typo

{{comic
| number = 1189
| date = March 22, 2013
| title = Voyager 1
| image = voyager_1.png
| titletext = So far Voyager 1 has 'left the Solar System' by passing through the termination shock three times, the heliopause twice, and once each through the heliosheath, heliosphere, heliodrome, auroral discontinuity, Heaviside layer, trans-Neptunian panic zone, magnetogap, US Census Bureau Solar System statistical boundary, Kuiper gauntlet, Oort void, and crystal sphere holding the fixed stars.
}}

==Explanation==
''{{w|Voyager 1}}'' is a U.S. space probe launched in 1977 to study the outer reaches of the Solar System and beyond. Popular press has on several occasions announced that it “has left the solar system” – at each point when a boundary has been confirmed or a major event has taken place – the fact is that there is no strictly defined and recognizable boundary of the solar system.

The alt-text lists several such possible boundaries, together with fictive humorous ones:

*The {{w|termination shock}} – the point in the heliosphere where the solar wind slows down to subsonic speed (relative to the star) because of interactions with the local interstellar medium.
*The {{w|heliopause}} – the theoretical boundary where the Sun’s solar wind is stopped by the interstellar medium.
*The {{w|heliosheath}} – the region of the heliosphere beyond the termination shock.
*{{w|Heliosphere}} – a region of space dominated by Earth’s Sun, a sort of bubble of charged particles in the space surrounding the Solar System.
*Heliodrome – a {{w|Heliodrom camp|concentration camp}} from the Bosnian war.
*Auroral discontinuity.
*Heaviside layer – a layer of ionized gas occurring between roughly 90–150 km (56–93 mi) above the ground in the Earth's atmosphere.
*Trans-Neptunian panic zone – this fictional zone combines the word from two subject: “Trans–Neptunian” is used in astronomy to describe stuff that occurs beyond the planet Neptune. In {{w|Outdoor education}} the “panic zone” is the opposite of the {{w|comfort zone}} when trying to learn new stuff.
*{{w|Ignition magneto|Magnetogap}} – part of an {{w|ignition system}}.
*US Census Bureau Solar System statistical boundary – a fictive boundary defined by the {{w|United States Census Bureau}}, similarly to how it defines {{w|Census tract|census areas}} for the purpose of processing statistical data about regions in the United States.
*Kuiper gauntlet – this is a play on the {{w|Kuiper belt}}, which is region of the Solar System beyond the planets, extending from the orbit of Neptune (at 30 AU) to approximately 50 AU from the Sun, notable for being full of asteroids; replacing the word “belt” with “{{w|Gauntlet (glove)|gauntlet}}”, which is a tough glove used by sword fighters.
*Oort void – refers to the {{w|Oort cloud}}, a gigantic “cloud” of materials (mainly composed of ice) which ends around a light-year from The Sun and is deemed the (current) “edge” of the solar system.
*Crystal sphere holding the fixed stars – this refers to historical ideas about the universe, in which the stars were supposed to be fixed on a {{w|Celestial spheres|large crystal sphere}} around the Earth.

==Transcript==
:Number of times ''Voyager 1'' has left the Solar System
:[22 tally marks.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Charts]]

1175: Moving Sidewalks

2013-02-18T08:42:29Z

Kaa-ching:

{{comic
| number = 1175
| date = February 18, 2013
| title = Moving Sidewalks
| image = moving sidewalks.png
| titletext = I think I could spend hours just stepping on and off of conveyor belts moving at various speeds.
}}

==Explanation==
Cueball and Megan are getting ready to ride an array of mini-conveyor belts, each going at a speed multiple of the original one's. Assuming they both take the one in front of them, they will need to walk faster as the conveyor belts set them back more by each step, ultimately reaching a point where they are close enough to able to high-five each other.

==Transcript==
[Cubeball and Megan on the opposite far end of a bidirectional moving sidewalk.]
:Cubeball: Ready?
:Megan: Ready.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

1172: Workflow

2013-02-12T08:48:45Z

Kaa-ching:

{{comic
| number = 1172
| date = February 11, 2013
| title = Workflow
| image = workflow.png
| titletext = There are probably children out there holding down spacebar to stay warm in the winter! YOUR UPDATE MURDERS CHILDREN
}}

==Explanation==
Users will often try to work around bugs in software, and are sometimes able to get used to having the bugs around. Some bugs are even interpreted as features and users complain when the software authors fixed them. A similar effect may be caused by other improvements, particularly those which involve changes in the user interface.

This comic shows a somewhat extreme example. An unnamed software had a bug causing the CPU to overheat whenever the spacebar was held down too long. In version 10.17, this bug was fixed. Soon, longtimeuser4 complained that they liked the bug of CPU overheating if the spacebar was held down. They hand made use this "feature" (which is, again, more weird than usual) to streamline their workflow, and they wanted an option to re-enable it.

{{w|Emacs}} (''E''ditor ''MAC''ro''S'') is a text editor written by the GNU project (with ports to virtually all operating systems including Windows, Linux and Android) that features a very powerful internal macro language. Macros are little programs or scripts for automating repetitive tasks.

Examples of real life changes in software which, though often acclaimed by critics, caused great annoyance among existing user base include ribbons introduced in Microsoft Office 2007, Start screen of Windows 8 or Unity desktop manager bundled with Ubuntu since version 11.10. In the latter case, developers included an option to use the older interface; for the rest, applications emulating (to some extent) old behavior were developed by third parties.

The title text makes a hyperbole to humorous effect, children will freeze to death during the winter because they won't be warmed by a rather unconventional heater. Proving (or creating an illusion of) a connection between one's opinion and care for children's welfare is a common method of gaining public support for this opinion, as such arguments are hard to deflect by the other side of the debate.

==Transcript==
:Latest: 10.17       [Update]
----
:'''Changes in version 10.17:'''
:The CPU no longer overheats
:when you hold down spacebar.
----
:<div style="margin-left: 5em;">Comments:</div>
:'''LongtimeUser4''' writes:

:This update broke my workflow!
:my control key is hard to reach,
:so I hold spacebar instead, and I
:configured Emacs to intepret a
:rapid temperature rise as "control".

:'''Admin''' writes:

:That's horrifying.

:'''LongtimeUser4''' writes:

:Look, my setup works for me.
:Just add an option to reenable
:spacebar heating.

Every change breaks someone's workflow.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Computers]]

Category:Velociraptors

2013-02-01T08:37:49Z

Kaa-ching:

The '''Velociraptor''' is a genus of {{w|dinosaur}} which was popularized by its appearance in the ''{{w|Jurassic Park}}'' film series. In the films, Velociraptors are depicted as small (shorter than adult humans) bi-pedal scaled dinsaurs which frequently attacked and killed humans. They were one of the main antagonists in the films. The reference source used by the author of the original novel was somewhat outdated, and the dinosaurs as written and thereafter depicted in the film have some discrepencies with the size and appearance of the velociraptors. For example, Scientists have since discovered that velociraptors were likely feathered.

''Jurassic Park'' may have been a relatively scary film for children, and the film appears to have had a strong impact on [[Randall Munroe]]. Velociraptors in particular, and the irrational fear of being attacked by them in the modern world, are subject of (or appear in) several strips of ''[[xkcd]]''.

''See also: {{w}}''

[[Category:Comics by topic]]
[[Category:Jurassic Park]]

87: Velociraptors

2013-02-01T08:36:46Z

Kaa-ching:

{{comic
| number = 87
| date = April 10, 2006
| title = Velociraptors
| image = velociraptors.jpg
| imagesize =
| titletext = You're probably thinking, 'has it been a decade?' It's been over thirteen years, buddy.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic refers to the film ''{{w|Jurassic Park}}'', a 1993 movie based on the 1990 novel by {{w|Micheal Crichton}}. The film centres around a billionaire who buys an island and opens a zoo/theme park for dinosaurs which he has cloned from DNA recovered from blood found in fossilized mosquitos. Naturally, everything goes haywire, and several of the creatures, among which are the [[Velociraptor]]s subject of this comic, try to devour every human in the theme park.

Velociraptors (often shortened to "raptors") are a species of relatively small, carnivorous {{w|dinosaur}} which play a central role original film, as well as its sequels. In the film, herds of Velociraptors antagonize the main characters at various points, even entering buildings; they play a large role in the climax of the film. According to Wikipedia, the Velociraptors in the film were erroneously based on the Deinonychus species of dinosaur. Unlike the movie, in which they are depicted as having a reptilian skin, both species of dinosaur in reality are theorized to have been feathered. This makes sense, as the word "raptor" also refers to modern birds of prey.

As we see in this comic, and will see in future comics, even though it had been approximately thirteen years since he presumably first saw the film, [[Randall Munrow|Randall]], apparently has been perpetually scared and fears a real raptor attack; specifically, in this comic he worries how a building would stand up against the creatures. The drawn house mainly poses a risk by the large window in the living room, through which a Velociraptor could break-and-enter (believing that the bathroom window is too high for them to reach, and the door too secure to break through).

The image text points out what he presumes is the reader's disbelief that ''Jurassic Park'' had (as of 2006) been released so long ago (thirteen years prior). This is another classic xkcd premise which will later be the subject of a least one comic outright: #[[891]] five years later, which includes ''Jurassic Park'' again.

==Trivia==
* This comic marks the first reference in [[xkcd]] to ''{{w|Jurassic Park}}'', and specifically to [[Randall]]'s fear of [[Velociraptors]]. The fear will continue to be a subject of future comics and running jokes.

==Transcript==
[Picture of a suburban house, with lines pointing to various aspects]

High bathroom window: probably secure.

Outer door: secure.

picture window: VELOCIRAPTOR ENTRY POINT!

Narrator: It's been over a decade since Jurassic Park opened, and I still size up buildings for their potential as shelter against velociraptor attacks.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Jurassic Park]]